


Galaxies

by Angelology



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Angst, Multi, x-ray and vav
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 13:59:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 33,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2775620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelology/pseuds/Angelology
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gavin and Ray have formed a system between the six of them. It's strong, it's steady, and it keeps the secrets between them where they should be - hidden. It all comes crashing down, though, when Gavin goes missing one night and Ray is left alone to find him - and risks telling their boyfriends of their dangerous superhero life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whalehuntingboyfriends](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whalehuntingboyfriends/gifts).



> T/W: Violence and injuries  
> I had to split this up because apparently I keep absolutely demolishing the character limit allowed. Whoops.

There was a time before the six of them.  
  
A time before six sets of skilled and certain hands wandered across each other’s body with familiarity because they knew each other like the moon knew the stars, by now, from countless nights just lying next to each other, hands meandering when they were still new and unsure of this, of _them._   
  
When it was just two sets of hands - two bodies, drawn together like moths to flames and somehow ended up fighting crime at night together, looking after each other after every battle when they came home to their shared apartment, a small and crappy place in the city - conveniently placed closely to the fire-escape.   
  
They inspected each other with a sharp and stern gaze under the shitty little apartment light, before it became a shared house with four others, looking over each other carefully for any wounds they were hiding after a particularly bad fight - after once Gavin neglected to tell Ray that his chest felt like it was on fire and oh hey , next thing he knew he was diagnosed with dangerous internal bleeding - but their hands were not their eyes, and they betrayed their strength by shaking ever so slightly with anxiety and fear as they cleaned out and stitched up each other’s wounds.   
  
They were scared to see the other bleed, to see that they were bruised and bloody and they hadn’t helped in time. The reason, Ray claimed, that they got their shared apartment was so that he could take care of Gavin’s dumb ass and make sure he didn’t die during the night. Gavin argued the exact same point to Ray, and then just mutually agreed to look after each other. From that point, it was the two of them against the world.   
  
Their hands became steadier, more certain, as touches lingered and gazes met - and Ray claimed it was like some shitty soap opera, with a violin backtrack and all - when there was the one particular night where eventually they went from crime-fighting duo to crime-fighting duo with benefits, as Gavin leaned forward and captured their lips together when Ray was checking for an injury on his chest.   
  
And sure, his chest may have flared up in pain and yeah okay , maybe the after-events which were just as clumsy and as desperate as the kiss didn’t help at all, but his chest healed in time and he ended up with a boyfriend. So, it was really a win situation in the end.   
  
They had their secret identities kept from the world, but not from each other - names from an inside joke, where one night Gavin had been ridiculously drunk and couldn’t even speak his own damn name properly and had then pressed on to butcher Ray’s name.   
  
The names were dumb and stupid, and Ray knew many of the tabloids would call them unoriginal and uncreative if they found out, but it didn’t matter to Ray. Because it had a meaning, maybe it was that Gavin was an incoherent drunk, but still a meaning none the less, and it meant something close to Ray, gave him memories of nights when it was just the two of them out about and in the town, only just beginning to fabricate the whole superhero idea. And so he was dubbed X-Ray, and his partner in crime was Vav.   
  
There was a time before the two of them, too. Where Ray was just some scrawny kid, barely classified as an adult, passing through the streets of the city with his head down, just trying to avoid getting mugged. Gavin was the opposite, loud and boisterous and had immediately drawn the attention of muggers that were lurking close in the area.   
  
It was fate, really, that allowed Ray to be the only one around with Gavin when the muggers attacked. It was too early in the morning for anyone else to even think of being near the more dodgy streets and alleys, and he realised it was absolute idiocy that brought the two of them together because the two of them broken the unspoken rules of the streets, had dared to test the boundaries. He had flickered his vision and was able to see the gun lying in wait in one of the guy’s jackets, and had barely made it to them when he saw the bullet being fired.   
  
And then, somehow, Gavin who was, at the time, just some annoying British kid who had just caused trouble for Ray by making him somehow just throw his morals - don’t get involved with heroics, don’t use your abilities - right out the fucking window, and then suddenly the guy had avoided the bullet, and suddenly the gun was on the ground along with the shooter and Gavin was above the guy, kicking him in the balls.   
  
From there, Ray had introduced himself almost nervously, although Gavin was able to banish it with a thank you and a treat to breakfast for the.. well, attempted help. Over croissants and orange juice at some small cafe a few blocks away, they had somehow bonded so well that by the end of it Ray was almost excited to take up the guy’s offer of meeting again, despite the burning curiousity to find out more about just how the hell the guy had done that, as he had cleverly diverted all of Ray’s questions about it.   
  
It took time, a few meet-ups at each other’s apartments and lunches in the city for Gavin to eventually answer. He revealed it when Ray was just hanging out at Gavin’s - just a casual hang out playing Halo - and he had tripped, a clumsy, honest-to-God trip up from the carpet, and the glass in his hand had gone flying.   
  
He had closed his eyes and had stiffened, waiting for the shatter of the glass and opened his eyes after a few moments when he realised there had been no such sound. Gavin was standing there, awkwardly and uncomfortably so, holding the glass with a sheepish expression on his face.   
  
Gavin explained it, explained it was a gift - a curse - he had since he was a child, and he was able to slow down time for a few precious seconds and was the only one able to manoeuvre in those moments. Ray had argued it was superspeed, but Gavin was adamant that it was most definitely just slowing time down by sending out a wave, almost like a blast, outwards from his hands and eventually Ray gave in and stopped arguing that it was superspeed.   
  
He stuck to Gavin closer because of that, because while at that moment they were nothing more than friends, Gavin was still a source of relief, of sanity, of reassurance that Ray wasn’t the only one out there that suffered from being a bit different.   
  
It took a few more casual visits for Ray to accidentally spill his secret, too. It was also an accident, too many slip ups here and there - being able to still kill Gavin in a game from a whole room away as he was able to see the screen through the wall, able to steer Gavin clear of guys with guns hiding in their coats in the streets when they went for walks in the night, able to win hide and seek no matter what - and Gavin had caught on eventually, just a little more perceptive than Ray originally gave him credit for.   
  
He had cornered him and had asked Ray if either of them were properly human, and Ray had just laughed it off at first. But he had ended up spilling, of course he had, spilling that he was able to change his vision to thermal, to x-ray, to any sort of fucking vision he wanted with a goddamn blink.   
  
It was a curse, of course it was. He was a freak, was able to see shit that no human eye should ever have to see and it was just some damn fucking curse because he was stuck with it.   
  
Gavin hadn’t thought so, had claimed it was absolutely bloody perfect. They were like superheroes, he said, although they didn’t have names or costumes. The names came a few months later when they realised that hey, this could really work, and the costumes Ray was able to get through a friend.   
  
Of course, they were spandex and made certain features so glaringly obvious it had both of them laughing nervously when they first put them on, but when they actually headed out into the streets, they realised they worked pretty solid as a team.   
  
A couple months of meeting up and fighting crime, Gavin had eventually worked up the courage to ask Ray to join together and throw what little money they had together - Gavin’s slow motion cinematography hadn’t picked up at that point, and Ray was only a Game Stop worker - and share an apartment. Ray had agreed without hesitation, and within the next couple of weeks they had moved into the same apartment together.   
  
They fought crime and argued with crime, argued with those who tried to convert them. There was a time where they thought about it too, thought of fighting on the side of crime. Money was low, and it just seemed rewardless for giving up whole nights to stop crime and getting absolutely no appreciation. Luckily, they had managed to pull through when Ray had gotten a pay rise at Game Stop and Gavin had accidentally saved some big-wig who gave them a hefty reward.   
  
That gave them some small tabloid attention, but they were determined to stay out of the headlines. Gavin had explained that was Dan’s doing, a friend of his back in England who knew of his abilities, that Dan was the one keeping their names low and hushed.   
  
If they made it big, it would make their lives ridiculously hard and they knew it. It would be hard for the secrecy, and they knew the stress of it was just not worth it. So they kept as quiet as they could, slowly lowering the rate of crime nightly.   
  
And then, Gavin had still managed to end up in the headlines. It wasn’t, luckily, for his nightly duties but rather his daily one. His slow motion cinematography - something he filmed for a site called YouTube, something he had been doing from when he was in England with Dan, and was now occasionally featuring Ray - had been picked up and he made his way into the local paper. A small article, but it was still their names in the paper nonetheless.   
  
It had gained the attention of some YouTube channel called Rooster Teeth, who offered the two of them a position in the company. It was in Austin, meaning they had to move from their current residency in New York, but eventually they made it work.   
  
The costumes themselves took up a fair amount of suitcase space, but it wasn’t like they had much to pack anyway. While they went through airport security, Ray pointed out to Gavin every single person that would be flagged going through the metal detectors. It was his source of entertainment until the flight, where they both spent most of it sleeping.   
  
Austin was a lot different to New York. It was hot, for starters, the dry heat bearing down the instant they stepped outside the airport. The people were significantly less stranger - and so were the criminals, although they were a lot more dangerous - and it was overall just weird.   
  
It was worth it, though, as they still managed to find an apartment to share together. The job was fantastic, literally playing video games for a living, although their night hobby became slightly less glamorous.   
  
It was then, on their second night of crime fighting in Austin, that Gavin had received his internal injury. It was only a couple days later when, in the damn apartment, he had just collapsed and Ray had been spun into a world of worry and anxiety and hospitals.   
  
He didn’t realise how much it scared him that there was now the very real possibility he could lose Gavin, in this new environment and dangerous streets. When Gavin woke up on the hospital bed, tubes sticking out of everywhere, Ray had ignored him until Gavin had practically been kissing his feet, and he made it very, very clear they would tell each other every injury from then on out.   
  
Gavin kept his word. It was only a few weeks later when he had kissed Ray - it was after a bad fight, Gavin had gotten sucker punched in the chest and there was a good chance he had a broken rib. Didn't stop either of them, though.   
  
The atmosphere changed in the office at one point. When the others realised that Ray and Gavin were a thing - clumsy and awkward and unsure of themselves but a thing, a lovesick sappy thing - they became almost more… reclused.   
  
It took a while, a ridiculously long time for a guy who could slow down time and a guy that could see through practically anything, to see that the other four guys were a thing as well. Newer than Ray and Gavin, and a lot more clumsier and fragile, and so Ray and Gavin kept their distance from them.   
  
It only drew the two of them closer, and they had eventually had fallen into a pattern like the way the sun and the moon rose, learned everything and anything about each other and they realised that they were in ridiculously deep, knew that they couldn’t get away from each other without leaving both of them broken.   
  
So when the other four had extended a hand, after months of testing waters and lots of serious talks between them all, the two of them took it. It made the six of them more fragile, a sacred new thing that none of them really knew how to operate, but Ray and Gavin knew how to operate each other like themselves and always found that they fell back on one another, in the end. They had a foundation for themselves, which strengthened their relationship with the others.   
  
They didn’t move in when Geoff had brought up the idea of a house, because that would mean their nightly duties were at risk and surely their normal sleeping habits of two hours of sleep - which wasn’t healthy, but they had been functioning like that for a long time now, and their bodies had adapted - would raise some questions.   
  
The others were shocked, and a bit hurt, at first. It took a while to explain that yes, they wanted to move in but they couldn’t, because at night it needed to just be Ray and Gavin in the end, always there for each other. So the other four had moved in together, while Ray and Gavin kept their apartment.   
  
They made the apartment strictly off limits to the boys. X-Ray and Vav were beginning to gain some popularity, now, with sneaky photographs taken of them in the night, a few whispered headlines passing between them every now and then. There were just too many clues at their apartment - a stupid amount of medical supplies, weird souvenirs that they had collected which were probably big pieces of evidence for the cops, and of course their costumes.   
  
They kept their nightly activities a secret, somehow, which became a struggle at times because Ray and Gavin absolutely refused to take their shirts off unless it was pitch black, even during sex, which was just a precaution they had to take to hide their unnatural amount of scars, scratches and bruises littered across their chests and backs. The boys found it suspicious but eventually let the subject drop when Gavin just about had a damn panic-attack when they tried lifting the shirt during a heated moment and they all immediately backed off.   
  
And sometimes, they would nearly give in to the temptation to tell the boys, to tell them everything they held secret between each other, but they kept their mouths shut and their shirts on and somehow, the system worked. The system hadn’t failed, hadn’t been questioned in months, had held strong.   
  
Until it, you know, didn’t.  
  
The day it happened, it seemed everything had been going wrong for the duo. They had a late night, later than usual, after being caught up in some sort of drug deal which had ended up with a whole cargo of drugs and while they managed to eventually track down the drugs and dealers, it was sunrise by the time they returned home.   
  
They got an hour of sleep before the alarm rang off for work. They stumbled over each other, both tired and exhausted, fumbling with shaking hands with the coffee, the keys, everything.   
They were meant to get a ride with Monty or Adam or someone, but after minutes and minutes of waiting they realised that whoever was meant to pick them up completely forgot, which left them calling a string of people until they finally found someone that was able to get them.   
  
When they got to work eventually, they were nearly an hour late and it set back their schedule. They were already packed as it was, trying to recover for lost time with Michael and Jack when they went out to a convention in another state. When they walked in, it seemed that Geoff was able to reign them all into working, at least, but it meant they were so stuck in their workloads that Gavin and Ray didn’t even get their good morning kisses.   
  
The two of them hadn’t gotten any lunch, either. Ryan offered half a sandwich, as did Michael, but they all knew it wasn’t even close to enough to satisfy their hunger. It was some side effect of their abilities; an endless black hole for a stomach. And in the chaos that had been the morning, they had just completely forgotten about food.   
  
Being hungry lead to issues with their abilities, too. Which, you know, was total bullshit because while they were starving, they also had to be super careful not to slip up.   
  
It was extremely disconcerting to look around the room and only see the skeletons of the bodies around, and it also made actually focusing on the game they were playing ridiculously hard. Gavin also had to be careful of his, making sure he didn’t move a single muscle when his abilities messed up and time just slowed down without him wanting it too.   
  
All in all, it was an absolute shit day. They were hungry and tired - both sleep deprived and tired of having to deal with their bullshit powers that they had to keep secret from their fucking boyfriends because hey, they were total weirdos and it would no doubt freak all of the other boys out.   
  
And usually, on such shit days, they took a night off from their nightly duties. They knew it would serve no one any good for either of them to be clumsy and stupid, and one slip up could be deadly.   
  
Unfortunately for them, as soon as they sat down on their couch and began to eat a feast, some sort of fire had started down in an apartment complex on one street or another. They looked at each other and sighed in exasperation, but they both got up and suited up.   
  
A fire, they were sure, they could handle in moments. Between Ray’s vision, - helping with being able to spot trapped people in rooms instantly, instead of having to check and muck about and waste precious moments actually trying to find the people - and Gavin’s time slowing abilities, dealing with a fire was almost a breeze.   
  
They really should’ve just forgone their nightly duty.   
  
When they got there, jumping from rooftop to rooftop - they learned the ability pretty quickly, because hey, they didn’t have a Batmobile and they didn’t even know how to drive, so they had to get around at night somehow - the blaze of the fire had already died down. It was controlled, almost peaceful, the bright colours of red and orange and yellow swirling into the night sky.   
  
The smoke, however, was always an issue. They began to get closer, getting as close as they could without wanting to cough up a lung and laid low on the rooftop, Ray trying his hardest to scan the building just in case they missed anyone.   
  
Smoke was an annoyance. He couldn’t see through it, not from far away at least, and he could never be too sure with his vision when there was a lot of smoke around. To be safe, they both lowered from the rooftop - taking a ladder, because they still hadn’t been able to get the grasp of climbing down windows or the bricked walls - and got as close to the fire as they could without being spotted.   
  
Ray had gestured for Gavin to stay behind in the alley, to watch his back as he got closer to the fire.   
  
Why hadn’t he watched Gavin, why hadn’t he just turned around?   
  
There was, luckily, no one in the building. Ray was able to say it with confidence, and was about to turn around and do so to his partner when he realised that Gavin wasn’t even there.   
  
At first, he thought it was just Gavin being, well. Gavin . He called out quietly, searching down the alley, but there was a twisting, a sick churning in his stomach and he knew, he just knew that something was so very wrong. He tried calling Gavin's phone, but it went immediately to the voicebox and he knew it wasn't Gavin just fucking around.   
  
His vision had been drained, it seemed, from exhaustion. He was stuck with his normal vision and disturbing flickers of the x-ray vision, but it did nothing to help.   
  
He searched around for hours. He jumped rooftops, he searched in abandoned buildings, even went back home a couple of times to check just to make sure that somehow, maybe, Gavin had returned home, had just gotten his stupid ass lost in the city or something.   
  
Eventually, the weariness in his bones and muscles forced him to get back to the apartment and collapse on the couch - the bed was just too empty - but he couldn’t close his eyes, even as the first sign of light came through.   
  
Because, within their months of these nights, they had never lost each other after sunrise. Sometimes, one would fall behind before the other noticed until a few rooftops ahead, maybe would get caught up, but they would always meet up again as the sun rose. It was a routine, it had never faltered and the thought of not meeting up at sunrise never occurred because somehow they always did, they always found each other.   
  
And for Gavin to be missing - well, Ray didn’t know what to feel. His heart was hammering, thumping too close to his rib cage it would explode, it was going to explode out of his chest and his breathing was quick and panicked and god why couldn’t he breathe, why couldn’t he get air into his lungs and he only just managed to grasp the thought of it’s a panic attack, _it’s a fucking panic attack_ before he lost all thought completely, just focused on breathing, he had to breathe.   
  
But his chest was going to burst and his costume was too tight, and he clawed at it in a vain attempt to get it off. Somehow, at one point - he wasn’t sure when, he didn’t even remember - he had been able to get the top half off and he was just clutching and clawing at his bare chest, like it would help somehow when his heart exploded.   
  
Gavin was missing, Gavin was gone and oh god, he could be dead, he could be lying in a damn ditch or alley right now and what would the boys say when Ray had to tell them he lost Gavin, he was the reason Gavin was gone and fuck, fuck fuck.   
  
Eventually, he seemed to be able to get some breath into his lungs and he realised dimly that his body had probably just given up with the panic attack, too exhausted to continue.   
  
And god, was he exhausted. He took a few minutes to be able to focus his vision onto the clock, and holy shit he had to be at work soon. It took a few more moments to be able to stand and he swayed slightly on the spot, his heart rate still too fast and his breath was still too short and his legs were probably going to collapse, but he forced himself to the kitchen and took out a water bottle from the fridge.   
  
He sipped at it slowly as he got ready, throwing his costume into the cupboard - and Gavin’s should have been in there too, but it wasn’t because Gavin was fucking missing - and throwing on a shirt and shorts.   
  
When he passed the mirror and saw that the shirt he had thrown on was Gavin’s he nearly threw up. _Don’t think about Gavin,_ he told himself. The idiot is probably lost, _he’ll come home. Just go to work, he’ll show up soon._   
  
There was a knock at the door and it forced Ray out of his thoughts and he quickly threw on some shoes and answered the door.   
  
“Dude, you look like shit,” was the first thing that Miles said to him and Ray just rolled his eyes.   
  
“Like, bangable shit or just toilet shit?” Ray teased, and god he shouldn’t even be here, he should be looking for Gavin who was out on the streets somewhere.   
  
“Well, I say toilet but I’m sure Gav would still say bangable. Speaking of, where is he?”   
  
Gone. Missing. I don’t know. God, Miles, I don’t know. I lost him, I fucking lost him. He didn’t return at sunrise, I don’t know what the fuck to do.   
  
He said none of that, though. The lie slipped out easy between his teeth, years and years of practice making him fluent in the art of bullshitting. “He’s sick, can’t even get up.”   
  
Miles made a noise like something akin to sympathy. “You two bang too hard last night?”   
  
And god, he wished they had. They shouldn’t have even gone out.   
  
Ray just grinned and said a passing remark, something like you know it, before stepping out and shutting the apartment door, stuffing the key into the pocket of his shorts.   
  
He locked it, as he knew that if Gavin came home he’d be able to get the spare key that was hidden, just in case he didn’t have his on hand when he came back home.   
  
Hey asshole, you better fucking come back home.   
  
It was a personal plea, a desperate plea because holy shit , he still couldn’t come to terms with the fact that Gavin was missing, gone , right out from under his nose.   
  
The ride was almost silent, Miles thankfully preoccupied so that it wasn’t awkward. The whole ride, Ray considered what to say to the other boys. If they found out he was sick they’d probably want to see him and fuck it was date night, Gavin never skipped out even if he was fucking internally bleeding, and Ray cursed Gavin for leaving him in such a situation.   
  
When he walked in, on time that day, he waved and was kissed good morning by Ryan. But it didn’t help, because hey what if maybe they got their kisses yesterday, maybe they would have been somehow convinced to stay home. It was, of course, just an absolute bullshit thought and Ray knew that it would’ve made no difference if the boys kissed them good morning or not, but he couldn’t help it.   
  
Anxiety made a fist in his chest and he nearly choked on his casual “Sup.”   
  
Michael gave him a weird look, but then just shrugged and waved.   
  
“Where’s Gav?” Geoff asked, and oh shit, maybe it would’ve been a good idea to text Geoff or someone ahead because they always did that, they always texted ahead.   
  
“His ass is in bed, because he’s a lazy shit with a ridiculous temperature and he’s ‘fine’,” the last word was air-quoted, a jab because Gavin never admitted to being sick to the rest of them, always said he was fine even with his head down the damn toilet bowl.   
  
“Take it he’s ‘fine’ to go to date night?” Michael asked, the fine also sarcastic and Ray let the laugh slide easily from his mouth.   
  
“Oh yeah, his date night tonight is me tying him down to the bed to keep him actually in the bed,” Ray replied, ignoring the suggestive eyebrow raise of Ryan, who mumbled the word “kinky.”   
  
“That bad, hey?” Jack asked, and Ray nodded.   
  
“Yeah, he’s absolute shit. Sorry,” Ray mumbled the last word because he was, he was so sorry because he let Gavin slip out of his fingers, should’ve kept him in his sights because they were both weary and tired and they both let down their guard too much and it was Ray’s fault, it was all Ray’s fault and fuck, he was sorry.   
  
They all just made joking comments, but the day continued onwards. Ray checked his phone every few moments, at first waiting for a text from the contact named Gav  <3 , but soon he was checking for headlines. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but he knew exactly what he was searching for. A body in the alley in a ridiculous blue and red spandex suit, maybe chopped into pieces, maybe thrown in the water.   
  
It sickened his stomach and he had nearly had to excuse himself more than once, but he held it together because Gavin would absolutely kill him for letting their boyfriends worry.   
  
He wondered if his shaking hands were noticeable, if the look in his eyes said that the stars were collapsing in an act of despair because the moon was suddenly no longer there with them. After all, the stars and the moon rose together - a routine, a constant in the time of forever that would not ever falter. He wondered if the hunch in his shoulders explained that he was the stars, and Gavin was the moon.   
  
  
  
 

* * *

  
  
Gavin's heart was racing.   
  
The fire was an issue, sure, but he was pretty sure the fire hadn't damaged anything too important and no one was in danger. No, his heart was racing because there were two red laser dots pointing right at Ray. They were both on his back, unseen to Ray and for someone with multiple types of vision why couldn’t he have just turned and seen those damn lasers, one being pointed from the left and one from the right.   
  
Even if Gavin slowed time down, there was simply not enough time to take out both snipers. If he took down one, he was sure the other one wouldn’t hesitate to shoot his partner in the back. He whirled around, hoping that someone could explain the situation or help.   
  
Unfortunately, he didn’t get the help, but he got an explanation.   
  
A figure stepped around the corner at the other end of the ally, and gestured for Gavin to come closer. He was currently at about the halfway mark of the alley, with Ray at one end observing the fire and the sketchy bastard at the other end.   
  
He hesitated, but when he took a glance at Ray he watched as the lasers began to rise up, both pinpointing a spot on the left of his back, right behind the heart. He knew it was dodgy, knew that there was definitely the possibility that Ray would still be shot even if Gavin cooperated.   
  
There wasn’t another option. A third laser showed up, this time right on Gavin’s chest and he took a deep breath. He couldn’t warn Ray in time, he knew it, and there was just simply not enough time to take out Ray’s snipers.   
  
His heart felt like it was beating too fast to even be considered normal. It was pounding at his chest, almost demanding to be let out. He couldn’t calm it down.   
  
He raised his hands in a surrendering gesture and slowly walked up to the sketchy guy at the end of the alley, the entire time berating himself because this was the worst idea ever, they could possibly just be laser pointers and not telescopic sights.   
  
Eventually, he had made his way to the guy. There were no gunshots yet, which meant that Ray was at least safe for now. He was about to take one more step to the guy, but the guy held up a gloved hand and stopped him.   
  
Gavin froze, licked his dry lips and waited for something to happen. Ray hadn’t turned, and Gavin was pretty sure that if he did he would possibly wind up dead, so he just hoped that the sketchy bastard got what he wanted and left.   
  
He went to make a move - began to lower his hands - to maybe just try and talk to the guy out of it with comforting gestures, but he had barely just dropped his hands down to his ear level when the world went dark.   
  
When he came to, his heart had calmed down. It wasn’t slow, by any means, but it had calmed from the frantic beating it had been at before which was probably a good sign.   
  
What wasn’t a good sign was the fact his heart was beating slower because of whatever the hell kind of needle had been stuck into his chest. It had been taped down - the tape being wrapped around twice, and Gavin couldn’t help but think it was a little over the top - and the tube from the needle went above his head, above his range of sight.   
  
He wasn’t able to tilt his head up to check, as there was a chain of some sort around his neck keeping it locked onto whatever the hell was behind him. A pole, possibly, of some sort. Metal, cold and absolutely all in all terrible to be chained up to.   
  
His hands had been tied behind the pole, secure and it frustrated him that he was barely even able to feel his hands, as whoever had tied his damn arms together had done them way too tight and he was losing circulation.   
  
He could still feel his feet, at least, which had also been chained to the pole.   
  
_I’m a bloody dog_ , he thought to himself. He would’ve made some sort of comment like it aloud, if it wasn’t for the fact his mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls and his tongue had turned into lead.   
  
His hearing, he noticed, was also pretty much down for the count. There was a faint ringing that he was only now just hearing, and now that he took notice of it it was driving him absolutely mental, because he tried to drown it out, tried to focus on not hearing that damn noise, so of course it only became louder and more persistent.   
  
It was bringing on a headache and he wanted to groan. It was building up near his temples and he sighed as best as he could through his nose.   
  
He began to piece together what exactly had lead him to this predicament and worry began to build in his chest. What happened to Ray? Did they shoot him? Did they let him live? If he was alive, how was he dealing with it? Did he tell the others? What exactly did he tell them?   
  
The questions began to build in his mind and he began to shift uncomfortably as best as he could, trying to get his mind off the questions. After all, he wouldn’t find answers by asking himself more questions, and getting worked up over it was useless.   
  
His feet were already getting sore, and he wondered if that had something to do with the tube in his chest. After all, he didn’t know what it was doing to him. The top of his costume had been cut off, he noticed dully, the tattered remains lying in front of him. Thankfully, the bottom half still remained on.   
  
Standing for so long left him incredibly bored. He was pretty sure he already knew the place off by heart, by now. Small, dark and gloomy. There were a couple more poles sticking up from the floor, all rusted and dirty and he shuddered at the thought of being tied up to one.   
  
The floor was cement, and he was able to see some sort of substance splattered across it in front of him. He just hoped it wasn’t blood, but judging the bad smell and the overall eeriness of the place, he was pretty sure he was out of luck.   
  
He was able to take the ridiculously long period of solitude to reflect back on some darker memories. He had repressed them quite well until then, but his mind had began to wander and he found himself unlocking some of his protected memories.   
  
This wasn’t the first time he had been kidnapped, and it wouldn’t be the last. He knew that. Ray had been kidnapped plenty of times too. More often than not, they were usually together.   
  
Their first kidnapping had been pretty ... amusing, to say the least. They had been beaten down by a gang, back in the first few weeks of nightly crime-fighting, and they had absolutely no energy to even fight off against a group of about five very ridiculously high guys.   
  
It was an accident that they managed to wander into the wrong alley, but they still found themselves surrounded a group of men of varied ages who had obviously hit the drugs a little too hard.   
  
It wasn’t even a kidnapping. It was just that the guys had blocked off their exit and refused to let them leave because their outfits were a great source of entertainment. They were both tired and exhausted, but it was still quite an amusing experience.   
  
There was also the time where Gavin got absolutely plastered and thought it would be a fantastic idea to go out and fight crime. Ray had trailed behind out of worry because there was absolutely no doubt Gavin would wind up somewhere stupid. Which he did, right into the middle of a gang - Ray had told him the next morning that he had tried to join the gang by blowing all the members, which didn’t work - and managed to get his ass held at ransom. It was only because of Ray that he had managed to escape and wake up the next morning with only a hangover.   
  
Of course, there were plenty of others after that that weren’t so amusing. There was one, a few months back, where they had both been kidnapped by some psycho in some ape mask. He had set it up so that Gavin had been left dangling by his wrists by some raft while the ape-guy investigated Ray.   
  
The trick was, though, for every unanswered question from Ray there would be a growing collection of cuts over Gavin. The more Ray refused to answer the questions - trivial things, at first, but had then turned into ‘how did you get your powers’ and all those kinds of questions - the deeper the cuts got.   
  
Gavin had realised, maybe halfway through the interrogation, that Ray could escape at any moment. Gavin had taken notice the moment Ray freed his hands from the cuffs, had seen the way that Ray could just easily get up and run.   
  
But he hadn’t. The ape guy was too close to Gavin for Ray to try anything, and although Gavin had mouthed at him to get the hell out of there, to just leave him and go and save his own self before the ape switched focus and got bored or ran out of room on Gavin’s body, Ray still refused to leave.   
  
Gavin realised then, suspended and at the mercy of some stupid asshole in an ape mask, that he was a burden on Ray. Ray could’ve escaped by now, could be free from this idiot’s interrogation, but he didn’t attempt anything out of fear for Gavin.   
  
It was a pretty crappy feeling to know that he was the reason Ray wouldn’t go and save himself. Heartwarming and sweet, sure, and if they got out of it Gavin was definitely all for showing his appreciations, but it had also formed a sickening feeling in his stomach.   
  
After that, when they finally got out and Gavin had a lot more scars on his body, he couldn’t shake the feeling like he was holding Ray back. While Ray reminded him constantly that he was absolutely not when he finally caught on to what Gavin was feeling, it was still always there - that guilt and shame of being a burden.   
  
He knew, he knew, that he would do exactly the same thing if the situation was reversed. But it wasn’t the first time that happened, wasn’t the first time Ray gave up fighting because Gavin had managed to get his stupid ass into trouble again and surrendering secured his safety, wasn’t the first time Ray had forgone his escape and even taken some of the beating to protect Gavin.   
  
In a sense, he knew he had done the same in the sniper situation. Had sacrificed his getaway to protect Ray. It barely touched on what Ray had done for him, though, and he remembered there had been a period of doubt in their relationship when Gavin had pulled away, convinced he was a burden and just slowing down Ray. Slowing down all of them.   
  
Ray, with the help of the other boys, made sure Gavin knew exactly just how much they didn’t think of him as a burden or anything like that. It was convincing at the time, but now that Gavin had time to reflect he wondered just how much of a burden he was being now.   
  
He knew he was causing Ray worry, knew him well enough to know he was probably driving himself into the ground trying to find Gavin. He wondered what excuse Ray would make up to the others to cover for him, and wondered if they’d worry too.   
  
_Of course, you idiot,_ he told himself. _They love you. They’ll worry. Stop it, just stop these dumb thoughts._   
  
Thankfully, he was saved from any more personal thinking time by the opening of a door. It sounded far away, a heavy cellar door by what he could hear, and then there were footsteps. Then there was another door being opened, this time just the usual household door, which opened into the room where Gavin was being held.   
  
Three men stepped through the narrow door frame.   
  
One was tall and lanky, and Gavin immediately related him to Slenderman. His movements were smooth, his shoes barely heard as they hit the ground when he walked around Gavin, inspecting him.   
  
Gavin squirmed uncomfortably - after all, it was a bit weird to have the real life Slenderman inspecting him like some sort of museum artefact. He couldn’t tell exactly where the man was looking though, as his face was covered by some sort of mask.   
  
And God, did he wish to taunt the guy. Maybe say that no, he didn’t have 20 dollars. Maybe ask if he had stolen any children lately or had tentacle arms, or if he had seen any pages floating around.   
  
His focus, however, was quickly on the two others that stepped through. One barely managed to fit through the door frame - much more bulky and Gavin had no doubt the guy had been assigned as the muscle, used to intimidate Gavin.   
  
He knew, though, that the bulky guy wasn't his biggest worry. It was the guy that slunk in after him, his shoulders hunched but his head held high, meeting Gavin's stare with something like curiousity.   
  
Oh no, his biggest worry was definitely not Slender - he looked at Gavin like an artifact, after all, he would hate to see anything destroy or seriously hurt the antique. The muscle was just used as an intimidation technique, but Gavin doubted the Slender guy would allow the muscle to really do too much harm. The third guy, however, caused a knot of worry to form in Gavin's stomach.   
  
He looked at Gavin like he was an interesting corpse from some other time and couldn't wait to just rip Gavin's bones from his skeleton to see if there was anything special about him. It made him shudder, but otherwise kept his facial expression as blank as he could.   
  
Ray had taught him a while ago exactly how to deal with these kind of guys. It was a tricky situation, but he was pretty sure he knew how to manage it. If he said nothing, he was sure they would eventually just get fed up and cut him open. However, if he spilled too fast there was no doubt they’d also get bored and it would be over too quickly and the exact same result would happen. He knew they didn’t expect him to walk out alive, but as long as he could prolong his death by balancing between the line of revealing too much or too little, he’d be able to hopefully give Ray enough time to save him. Again.   
  
The Slender guy walked up to Gavin first, just slightly taller and forcing Gavin to look up as much as he could to match the man’s stare, even though he couldn’t see his eyes. Eventually, the man just let out a small sigh and backed off from Gavin’s personal space.   
  
“I’ve read reports on you,” the man said, beginning to pace in front of Gavin like he was in deep thought. His voice was obviously being changed by some voice-controller of some sorts, as it came out scratchy and unnaturally deep, like Batman had shoved some razors down his throat.   
  
Gavin remained silent, the cotton still in his mouth but slowly fading.   
  
“English, are you? Judging by that ridiculous symbol on your … outfit. Kind of offended, really, that some immigrant like you thinks you can come over here and rule our streets. Like Hell, kid. What about your partner - is he English too? I heard he was darker, though, maybe Spanish? Mexican? Italian?” The man probed, but Gavin kept his gaze stubbornly directed at the wall opposite of him. The creepy guy had began to pace as well, but the muscle remained silent in the corner of the room.   
  
“I’m sure we’ll find out eventually, don’t you agree? I think you do. So, let’s make this easy. I’ll ask questions, and you answer them. Clear?” The man had stepped back up into Gavin’s personal space, staring challenging down at Gavin who just shrugged in an almost sheepish matter.   
  
“Sure,” he mumbled, his tongue feeling heavy and uncomfortable in his mouth.   
  
“I’ll pretend I understood what you just said. I hope it was a ‘clear’, and even if it wasn’t we can change that answer. So, let’s start simple.”   
  
The man moved out of Gavin’s line of sight for a few moments and then came back in, dragging a plastic chair behind him. He set it down far enough away from Gavin for him to be able to just see him clearly.   
  
“So, what’s your name?”  The man asked, like he was just casually flirting with someone at a bar. It made Gavin extremely uncomfortable, and he was sure the man knew it.   
  
“George,” Gavin answered, his tone serious. It took the man a few seconds for him to realise Gavin was joking and then grumbled something.   
  
“Funny, kid. But what is your name?” There was a hard edge to his tone now, and Gavin relished in the fact he had managed to rile up the man in just one word.   
  
“Charles,” Gavin tried, and the man sighed in exaggeration like someone would when they were about to scold a child.   
  
“Okay then, Charles,” the man sighed, obviously seeing past Gavin’s jest. “What’s your real name?”   
  
Gavin smothered the smile that wanted to come onto his face. He paused a few moments, like he actually considered telling the man, then let the grin spread across his face at his next words.   
  
“Harry,” he answered, and the man just sighed in disappointment.   
  
“Guess we’re not so clear then, your highness. I’ll just have to get you back on track.” The man stood up from the chair, walking over to where the third guy had been lurking around. The man just went past Gavin’s view, so he was unable to see exactly what was going on.   
  
It took a few more moments until Slender had walked back into his view, this time much closer to Gavin’s personal space. He leaned over Gavin, staring down at him in interest.   
  
And then the third guy walked in Gavin’s view, holding something that glistened in the dim light. Metal, rusty and old but Gavin still wanted it about ten feet away from him. Unfortunately, the third guy was intent on coming closer.   
  
“Last chance,” Slender warned. “What’s your name, kid?”   
  
Gavin gave a defiant glare up at the guy and then let another grin spread across his face.   
  
“Kate,” he replied and the Slender guy sagged, obviously disappointed in Gavin’s answer again, while the third guy just let a ridiculously large grin spread across his face.   
  
Slender stepped back, and the third creepy guy stepped up. He let the metal object dangle in front of Gavin’s face for a moment, and he realised it was a knife.   
  
_Oh good, so they’re starting easy_.

The tape was torn from his skin and he grimaced at the harsh pull of it, but still kept silent even as the needle was pulled out of his chest and left dangling in front of him from wherever it was hung.   
  
There was nothing special about the knife - it was just an ordinary, old, small kitchen knife. Gavin had no doubt it was sharper than it looked, though, but he suspected it was probably nothing compared to whatever else they had in their arrangements of tools.   
  
_Okay, balance the line here._   
  
Gavin stared ahead, waiting for the knife to meet his skin. He wasn’t sure where they would start, usually they started on the chest or back - his collection of scars littered there would tell as much - but he wasn’t too certain on where the creepy guy would go.

Surprisingly, he went for the chest. He was suspecting that the guy would maybe throw in some creativity, maybe start on the legs or arms or something, but he was proven wrong when the cold metal tip of the knife touched his skin, just grazing above his left rib cage.   
  
Immediately, he knew where the knife was going. He could feel the tip of it tracing one of his oldest scars, just barely grazing the skin. He shuddered as the cool metal made its way onto another scar, and then another after that.   
  
He traced all of them - the guy was seriously lacking in creative points here, couldn’t even think of his own scars to create - and then took a moment, a very long moment to pause before he moved back onto the scar he first traced.   
  
There was sudden pressure on the knife and Gavin grit his teeth as the pain made itself known as his skin was split. His hands turned to fists and he tried squirming away from the knife, only to be stopped by the guy pressing a finger to his lips and hushing him.   
_Yep, the guy was definitely fucked up._   
  
He could feel the blood beginning to trickle down his chest and he was so focused on just trying to breathe through the pain that he didn’t even notice the knife had gone off the line of the scar. He had spent hours tracing them, had spent hours watching Ray trace them with delicate fingers, so he should’ve immediately known that the knife wasn’t following the scars anymore.   
  
But he didn’t notice, because the pain blossoming in his chest was forcing all of his attention to it. He was sure that his teeth would definitely lose a few centimetres from them as he was grinding them together so harshly.   
  
The knife stopped, but the pain remained and he knew immediately that the guy had definitely somehow enhanced the knife’s effects. He couldn’t get a clear head to think about that though, still too focused on just trying to somehow mentally dispel the pain.   
  
“Ready to answer now?” The gravely voice of Slender said from right next to him, and Gavin would’ve jumped a mile if he wasn’t held down by the restraints.   
  
Gavin unlocked his jaw, his tongue running over his teeth quickly as he tried to think of an answer.   
  
Apparently, he was too slow and Slender made a signal to the creepy guy, who stepped closer and Gavin felt the tip of the knife back on his skin, this time down near his bellybutton. He didn’t have time to think about where the knife was though, as he only cared about just getting it away from him for a few moments.   
  
“No, no wait,” Gavin gritted out, trying to save himself a few moments to think. “It’s, ah, bullocks.”   
  
“Bullocks?” Slender repeated, incredulous.   
  
“No, it’s… it’s... Dan,” Gavin said, the name spilling out and he nearly took it back, nearly said ‘surprise, I’m joking’. It had been a panic moment, and God what if he put Dan in danger now? What if they somehow got the ties to Dan?   
  
_Calm down, idiot. There are surely thousands of Dan’s in America, they won’t find any ties to Dan. Just think of a last name while this bastard mulls it over._  
  
“Dan?” The man repeated, giving Gavin a suspicious look but Gavin realised that if he pushed at it, the guy would eventually fall for it.   
  
“Dan,” Gavin assured, playing up on his nervousness and fear a little to try and make it more believable.   
  
“You got a last name, Dan?” The man pushed, and Gavin just glared. _Come on, generic English last name. Something easy, something he’ll never be able to trace down._   
  
When Gavin stayed silent, the knife pressed back and he let out something close to a hiss.   
  
“Br- Brown, it’s Brown. Dan Brown,” He finally let out, wondering if maybe the last name was too obvious, but they seemed to accept it.   
  
They both stepped back from Gavin, who let out a deep breath. The blood was still running down his chest, and it was only when the creepy guy’s eyes flickered down did Gavin eventually realise the new laceration made a whole new track and didn’t follow the old scars.   
  
He didn’t let the frown appear on his face, instead just returning to his glaring. His sense of humour had drained, the pain beginning to grow and effectively sucking all amusement from him.   
  
“Well, that wasn’t so hard now was it, Dan?” Slender spoke, tilting his head slightly and Gavin just directed his glare at him.   
  
“I know I’ll get nothing out of you about your partner. I mean, loyal to the end blah blah, all the heroic moral shit. So, we’re just going to call him your fuckbuddy, okay? Great,” Slender continued, and Gavin’s glare just increased. He really wished for laser eyes or some power like that at that moment.   
  
“So we’ll talk about you, Dan. What power do you have, exactly? How the fuck are you able to do it?” It seemed Slender had also lost his patience, the questions sharp and demanding.   
  
Gavin did his best attempted shrug. “How the fuck are you able to be so stupid?” Gavin retorted, and relished in the way the man fumed.     
  
He did not, however, relish in the way that the knife was suddenly being pressed up against his stomach again, carving upwards.   
  
He somehow kept any sounds of pain muted, but he was pretty sure he bit his tongue so hard in the process it began to bleed and leave a coppery taste in his mouth.   
  
_Ray’s going to be so pissed off._   
  
The scar from it, he knew, would last for a while. Not forever, as some of his eldest scars had vanished over time and others were following quickly. But he was tired and ridiculously hungry and he knew his exhaustion and fatigue would just slow the healing to the point where it could take days for the wound to begin healing.     
  
The new gash, he realised, was created to form a ‘V’ shape on his chest and stomach and dread began to creep up on him. It was only the outside lines - but he knew there were still a lot more lines that were possible.   
  
He gave the guy a few creativity points. While the guy hadn’t created the logo, Gavin had to give him credit for carving it out on his own damn body.   
  
_Well, maybe I won’t need to use the logo suit anymore. I’ll just tear a hole through the suit and just show off my bare chest. Fantastic._  
  
His wrists, he was sure, were scratched raw from trying to twist out of the restraints. It was useless and wasted his energy, but focusing on his raw wrists was a bit better than actually accepting the fact that there was a complete psychopath carving out his bloody logo on him.   
  
His breathing was coming out in short little gasps - something almost like panting - and he was pretty sure his mind was just beginning to completely float away from reality.   
  
_Maybe if it floats far enough I can somehow get to Ray. That’d be cool. I want Ray to get me out of this._  
  
 _What if he won’t?_   
  
That thought made him freeze, almost made him forget to breathe because where the actual hell had that thought come from? It almost didn’t feel like one of his own thoughts, he knew Ray would always come for him, would always get his ass out of messes because they promised to help each other - they’d always be there for each other. Exactly like how the sun and the moon, the moon and the stars were there for each other.   
  
_So why did that thought come up?_  
  
He figured it out the moment he met the gaze of the Slender guy.   
  
Slender was watching him with something akin to curiousity, and not like earlier. He expected something, now, he was waiting for Gavin to react to something. Gavin took a careful glance over to the creepy one and he confirmed his suspicions. The creepy guy stared at him, then a confused look crossed his face when he realised Gavin wasn’t reacting the way they apparently wanted, and his gaze flickered down to the knife.   
  
That was what gave it away. That small flicker of eye movement. There was something laced on the knife, something affecting Gavin’s thoughts. He was certain it was probably meant to affect more - maybe his personality, his mood or behaviour - but it was likely something had gone wrong, likely that Gavin’s abilities helped him out a little.   
  
Clearly, they were waiting for the effects of the knife to kick in. He wasn’t sure what it was meant to do, exactly, even after double-checking his feelings and behaviour. Other than that one doubtful thought that crossed his mind, he was just as pissed off as he was before the second slash.   
  
But he was more pissed off than when we woke, he realised. Whatever was laced on the knife hadn’t just affected his mind, as he originally thought, but also his feelings. After the first slash, he felt void of any amusement and suddenly just jumped onto the ‘pissed-the-fuck-off’ bandwagon.      
  
_Okay, just hoping that’s temporary then_.   
  
He played it dumb, acted confused as to why they were staring at him curiously. They most likely didn’t count on Gavin picking up that he was probably being drugged up with some sort of body-altering substance, and he intended on making sure they didn’t find out he knew.   
  
"Well, alright," Slender sighed, and Gavin shot him a fake confused look. "You feel like talking yet?"   
  
Gavin just let a mischievous smirk grow and Slender clenched his fists.   
  
“Alright, we’ll let you stew in your own thoughts for a while then,” Slender sighed, moving outside of Gavin’s line of sight and taking the other two with him.   
  
The door was opened and then shut a few moments later, followed by the heavy door repeating the same process.   
  
It left him alone in the room with only his thoughts, just as the men intended. Gavin licked his dry lips, but his tongue felt like sandpaper and he seemed to just have irritated his lips further. He grimaced when he attempted to shift, his wrists feeling like they had been scrubbed and scratched raw.   
  
How long he was left alone for, he wasn’t sure. Maybe an hour or so. His thoughts had began to clear up after about half an hour, purging the darker thoughts that originated from whatever-the-hell was on the knife. He had to remember to keep a sample of the stuff, but it was likely it would probably still be laced in his system or in the gashes on his chest.   
  
_Come on, Ray._   
  
Maybe he heard his mental call, because there was the heavy door opening and then the one that lead into the room, and he heard Ray’s voice yell out.   
  
“Vav! ” Ray cried, except it was distorted, like he was talking into a microphone and Gavin was listening through shitty speakers. And he should’ve immediately placed there was something wrong, but it was possibly the exhaustion or the relief of finally just hearing Ray that he dismissed it. Maybe his hearing had gone funny, maybe it was a side-effect.   
  
Gavin remained silent, his tongue too heavy to even think of lifting. He just tugged weakly at his restraints, trying to find Ray.   
  
Ray stepped into his line of vision in the X-Ray suit, something like disgust on his features. Shame.   
  
Gavin didn’t have time to think anything of it, because he heard two other sets of footsteps. He tried letting out a warning - hadn’t Ray already dealt with all of them? Surely, he’d take them all down before getting Gavin.   
  
His voice, however, remained muted and he wanted to scream in frustration. Ray just turned and a smile flittered across his face, and Gavin furrowed his eyebrows. Why was Ray smiling? Had he gotten help, maybe?   
  
When the two figures stepped into Gavin’s sight, his eyes widened and his heart seemed to stutter with his breath.   
  
Surely, it couldn’t be?   
  
But there they were, Michael and Ryan, standing there with their arms folded and a disapproving look on their faces.   
  
_Did Ray tell them? Are they disappointed that I never told them? No, no, Ray wouldn’t tell them, what the actual hell is going on here?_   
  
Michael and Ryan stepped forward, stepping up close to Gavin and he saw the way that their eyes had a lifeless look in them, dull and soulless. That’s when the warning bells really started to go off.

Ryan smirked, and that’s when Gavin knew that something was definitely very wrong with this whole scene.   
  
Michael - was it Michael? - lifted his arm and began to trace a finger down from Gavin’s neck. He shivered, the finger cold and foreign and made him feel almost… dirty, in the way that the replica of Michael was being so intimate.   
  
The finger traced downwards and Gavin sharply sucked in breath when the finger hit the top of the V that was on his chest. Michael tutted, his disappointment obvious and Gavin didn’t miss the distorted sound his voice was making.   
  
“My boi,” Michael spoke, something condescending in his tone. The finger traced along the open wound and Gavin tried to shrink away, tried to get away from whoever or whatever the hell was touching him.   
  
“This isn’t finished,” Michael commented, speaking more so to himself than to Gavin. It was obvious what he was talking about - the logo, which was still missing the two inside lines. Gavin shuddered, unable to stop his body from the actions.   
  
_No, this isn’t real, it isn’t Michael. Come on, it’s not real, snap out of it. Snap out of it!_   
  
He couldn’t move though, couldn’t shake the illusion. He knew it wasn’t real, that it was just a facade - most likely for the three goons from earlier, because otherwise why else wouldn’t Geoff and Jack be in there? - and that his mind was just playing some stupid trick on him. The toxin obviously hadn’t worn off like Gavin had thought.   
  
He didn’t realise it, but at some point Ryan had also stepped up and Gavin only noticed him when his fingers began to dance along Gavin’s arms. He let out a frustrated sigh, because it wasn’t bloody real, it was just the damn toxin screwing with his mind.   
  
The knife that Ryan held in his hands was very real, though. It was proved as such when it made contact with his skin.   
  
As it dragged downwards, the two of them spoke.   
  
“How can we love you when you do shit like this?” Michael hissed, a knife also appearing in his hand and he carved down to form the other inner line.   
  
“Ray we can forgive, after all he had the fucking decency to tell us exactly what you two do at night,” Ryan continued on for Michael. “We suspected something, but we had enough faith and trust and fucking loved you enough to be certain you weren’t doing anything stupid.”   
  
“And this, my boi,” - and God the words sounded so wrong coming from the imposter’s mouth - “Is what we get? We trust you, but you don’t trust us and this is what we get?”   
  
Gavin scrunched his eyes shut. It wasn’t real, _not real, not real._   
  
“Well, this is payback asshole,” Michael said, digging the knife just a little deeper and Gavin hissed in pain. The line, as far as he could tell, was done - he was just going over it now.   
  
“We can’t love you, not when you’re… this. Not when you’re covered in these,” and then there was a knife - blunt side down, thankfully - tracing the scars.   
  
_Not real. Not real._   
  
But God, those words hit hard.   
  
It was a fear of his, one he had never spoken aloud, never admitted, but he was pretty sure it was obvious enough in the smaller things he did - clung closer to Ray when it was a particularly hard night, how it was always him who backed down from a serious fight first and apologised first, how he always had to be reassured that yes, they still loved him and no, they didn’t stop because he fucked up - that the boys knew. He couldn’t bear the thought of rejection, of suddenly just being left behind in the dust.   
  
“What are you compared to us?” Ryan sneered, and Gavin had to stop himself from visibly flinching.   
  
“After all, we have to put up with your stupid ass and antics. You’re a fucking renegade, Gav, you said you’d tell us everything, you said you’d trust us enough to tell us whenever something was up. You lied to us, Gav, what are we meant to do with that?” Michael jeered on and Gavin’s mind halted.   
  
_Shut up, shut up, you’re not real, they’ll understand, they have to understand. Shut up you pissy little bitch, pleb, donut, knob -_   
  
The insults continued until the knives finally came off his skin. He was in an almost unbearable amount of pain, his toes curling and his wrists very possibly bleeding and his chest was on bloody fire, was scorching his skin and setting his ribs alight.   
  
He realised he had blanked out on most of the illusion, and when he finally snapped back to he just saw the three of them standing together, a few steps back from Gavin.   
  
“You hold me down, Gav,” Ray began and Gavin wanted to scream at him, because wasn’t Ryan and Michael bad enough?   
  
“I could be fucking famous, rich, adored, but no. Your damn morals and secrecy and it was just a fucking mistake being with you. You’re a mistake, Gavin.”   
  
_Shut. Up._   
  
Finally, they stepped out of his sight and he listened as the footsteps padded back out the two doors. It left him alone again, but this time he couldn’t dispel the darker thoughts that now flooded into his mind.   
  



	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am absolutely hating formatting and splitting this up grr.

Ray couldn’t get outside of the apartment fast enough. He had gotten a lift home by Geoff, who wished Gavin all the best and Ray just felt his stomach lurch in sickness before waving him off and practically bounding to his door.   
  
When he got inside, he didn’t wait for nightfall to don his clothes - more casual than the X-Ray outfit, with just black jeans and a hoodie, which concealed him well enough. Every minute that went by was a minute that he could be searching for Gavin, could be the possible minute that meant life or death for him.   
  
The feelings of anger and sadness had eventually dispelled once he stepped outside, because fine, if Gavin wasn’t going to come back somehow on his own then it was up to Ray to save his dumb ass. He replaced the feelings with determination because he was going to find Gavin, dammit, and he was going to do it immediately.   
  
He walked around casually enough, avoiding the odd stares he got because it was still quite hot outside, too hot for jeans and a hoodie. He checked his phone for any sort of places Gav could be, even checked the tracker again to make sure Gavin’s hadn’t somehow magically turned back on, and then found himself going through the headlines again.   
  
Thankfully, nothing about a dead body. It kept a spark of hope alive, because hopefully the kidnappers were just the usual psychopaths - crazy enough to kidnap and wound, but killing outright just didn’t seem to settle right with them. Ray was thankful for that.   
  
He checked the area, checked the police database which they had hacked into a fair while ago any searching any areas that had been marked with suspicious behaviours. Unfortunately, the only thing he came across was a teenager walking around in a cougar onesie with headphones and apparently high as the clouds, singing and beginning to have a very strange fascination with the cracks in the ground.

  
That was as suspicious as he could find. His heart was hammering, panic threatening to overwhelm him and he had to stop twice to gag when he began to get a visual image of what might very well be happening to Gavin, might what very well happen if he didn’t find Gavin in time.   
  
It really only occurred to him after the street lights came on and the sun dipped down that his best chance at getting any sort of clue was back at where the fire was. In his panic-ridden mind, the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind and he cursed himself the whole way for it as he made his way back to the same street he had last saw Gavin on.   
  
He recreated the scenes in his mind, circling around exactly where Gavin had been standing last Ray saw. The vision he knew would be best to help, his tracking one that allowed him to see the world like it was constantly under a backlight and allowed him to search for certain tracks, was playing up like all his other visions. He had barely slept, was stressed and probably on the verge of another panic attack if he didn’t get some sort of clue soon because holy shit it was a big fucking city, and if he didn’t get something now where the fuck was he meant to even fucking  begin ?   
  
The tracking vision came in flickers of two seconds before he was forced back to his normal vision for a solid half minute before he could use it again.   
  
He made his way slowly back up to they alley, where he was standing, and could just faintly see his shoe print of where he had been standing the previous night. It was only when he finally caught a glimpse of Gavin’s under the fifty other shoe prints that he felt like he was finally getting somewhere.   
  
He was able to follow Gavin’s line of walking, right to the end of the alley. From there, it seemed, he had stopped in front of some sort of huge shoe print. Then, Gavin’s had suddenly vanished - picked up, most likely, and on a whim Ray followed the big shoe prints.   
  
They walked out onto a smaller street, and Ray was able to see the tyre marks of the possible getaway vehicle. He knew he should’ve done this the night before, when the tracks were fresh, but in his mindless panic he had completely forgotten his powers had even existed because they didn't work, had just been running in a mindless daze.   
  
Now, he had a direction. Hopefully, if the uneasy feeling in his gut was right.   
  
He followed the tracks - lost them a few times, as it was just a normal sort of car and was easily lost along the thousands of other tracks on the road. Somehow, though, he was able to follow the tugging in his gut and somehow kept on point.   
  
His progress was slow, his vision acting up more and more and could feel the phantom frustration of who would be stuck behind him on the sidewalk as he stared at the road. Thankfully, the streets were quiet - everyone obviously just too tired on the Thursday to deal with anything. He knew he looked insane, bending over slightly and staring down at the road like it was hiding something and Ray was interrogating it.   
  
He probably made the high teenager from before look completely sober and very down-on-Earth, while Ray was up in space.   
  
It probably took an hour, between stopping and waiting for his vision to work and then running along to follow the tracks as quickly as he could, until he got a solid track that he could just barely follow using his vision.   
  
The track winded down a narrow street, only overlapped a couple of times by random vehicles. It was almost an off track road, deserted except for the couple of old houses and cars parked carelessly on the dead grass.   
  
It continued on for a while, Ray's feet beginning to ache and yeah  okay, maybe he should've listened to Ryan when he bothered him about having better quality shoes because right now his feet were absolutely killing him.   
  
Then, the track stopped. Possibly because the road itself had – it was a dead end street, a bit of dead grassland just over the curb that was cut off by a high barred fence. His vision flickered, once, twice, and he looked up as quickly as he could to see where the tracks had gone before his vision cut off completely.   
  
The car was standing there, at the end of the track, engine dead and obviously abandoned.   
  
He was out on his own, now, no vision to help guide him and only the memory of footprints up to the fence. Wherever the people inside the car had gone, they hadn't intended on returning to the vehicle. They knew someone would probably trace them down and would likely swap vehicles after they got over the fence.   
  
Ray had absolutely no idea where the fuck he was, either. Out in the middle of  butt-fuck-nowhere, it seemed, and he sighed heavily. He approached the vehicle, tracing the door handle for a moment and hoping no alarm went off when he went to open it.   
  
Luckily for him, and his hearing, there was no onslaught of an alarm. He opened the door carefully, checking inside and making sure he wouldn't get blown up by some sneaky explosive before he began to search the inside of the vehicle.   
  
Whoever had owned it was clever. There was nothing suspicious inside, nothing except an empty packet of gum and an empty bottle of water in the front. His frustration was quick to grow at the lack of any sort of clues, but he forced himself to calm down before he searched the backseat.   
  
At first, there was nothing. If Ray's vision was working, maybe he'd be able to find something, but it wasn't and he was stuck with just searching for anything obvious. As it turned out, he didn't need his sight.   
  
The smell was what gave Ray his first actual hint that he was actually on the right path. It was the unmistakable smell of Gavin, a faint and very disguised smell, but he knew it immediately. He had spent too many nights beside Gavin to not be able to not know it.   
  
It was gone within seconds, but it was enough to quell his frustration and let a spark of hope flicker because going with his gut was apparently the right option, and he was now closer to finding Gavin.   
  
His phone brought him out of his thoughts, and he slunk out of the car to answer the vibrating device.   
  
“Yo,” he answered, not even checking for the caller.   
  
“Hey fuckface,” Michael replied, and Ray's face scrunched up slightly when he realised that Michael sounded just a little bit drunk, but he couldn't help but feel his cheeks warm a little at the stupid nickname.   
  
“Aw, hey babe,” Ray teased, shutting the door of the car gently and then leaned against it. His thoughts were whirling at a hundred miles an hour, but it was probably better to deal with Michael now and then deal with the fence later.   
  
Michael grumbled something that Ray wasn't able to catch, too distorted and fuzzy from the bad reception in the area.   
  
“Sorry?” Ray asked, and Michael sighed.   
  
“I- We wanted to know if you're okay. You sort of just rushed out and seemed just... pretty fucking off the whole day. Sure you're alright?” Michael asked, and Ray nearly wanted to sigh himself. He was anything but.   
  
“Yeah, yeah,” he lied. “Just a bit worried about Gav, still not doing too well.”   
  
Michael hummed a somewhat sympathetic noise. “Tell him to hurry the fuck up and get better. We have shit to do.”   
  
“Mich-” Ray said, tiredly and a little bit frustrated. He didn't need Michael up Gavin's ass for not doing his work when the asshole had gone and gotten himself kidnapped.   
  
“We might, might, just possibly miss his stupid ass and want to see him and his stupid big nose,” Michael admitted, saying it almost too quickly for Ray to catch. Ray let out a deep breath, already too annoyed to really feel like accepting Michael's attempt at being fond.   
  
No, Michael, you can't go see his 'stupid ass and stupid big nose' because he's fucking gone, you idiot. And you're clueless to it . Ray thought to himself, but refrained from speaking it aloud.   
  
“Sorry Michael, but he probably won't get better for another couple of days,” Ray said instead.   
  
There was a beat of silence, one so uncomfortable Ray began to shift his feet awkwardly, kicking at the death grass underneath his shoes. Underneath was just plain yellow sand, which began to turn brown the more Ray dug at it.   
  
“Ray?” Michael asked, quiet and nervous. Ray stopped kicking his feet immediately, waiting for the next words. It was strange to hear Michael ever sound nervous.   
  
“Mhm,” Ray responded, encouraging Michael to continue.   
  
“Are you sure we couldn't just... Come over for a bit? Even just me or something? Team Lads?”   
  
“Michael, you know what we've said about this,” Ray warned, and Michael huffed.   
  
“Alright, alright, whatever then. No Team Lads banging at yours. Your loss,” Michael said, and Ray was relieved that Michael didn't seem to take offence to Ray's warning.   
  
There were a few rules, most just common sense, in their relationship. No banging at work, don't ask when Gavin and Ray had to leave early if they went out to dinner, and do not ask about Ray and Gavin's apartment, and especially do not ask to go and visit.   
  
“I guess so,” Ray replied, back to kicking at the ground again. It was dark now, the street just barely illuminated by a dull street light. His own vision was better in the dark than most others, but it was still risky to work in the dark by himself. The sooner he inspected over the fence, the better.   
  
Another beat of silence. It was rarely ever awkward to talk to the others, and the only awkwardness between them would be during or just after a fight. So he knew Michael was probably confused as to why Ray wasn't continuing their usual flow of conversation.   
  
“I'll leave you two idiots to it, then,” Michael finally said, something like disappointment in his tone and Ray wanted to kick himself because he knew Michael was just worried, about Gavin and Ray, and for Ray to shut him down so quickly was a bit harsh. Also, Michael had a lack of filter when he was a bit drunk, so he probably didn't even mean to ask about the apartment.   
  
“Sorry, Michael, I'll discuss it with Gav later when he feels a bit better,” Ray replied and Michael hummed.   
  
“See you tomorrow,” Ray finished, and they quickly said their “love you's” before Ray ended the call.   
  
He stuffed the phone into the front pocket of his shorts and quickly inspected the vehicle again. When he still came up with nothing, he moved onto the fence.   
  
It was hard to climb, but not impossible. The vertical bars on the fence were higher than Ray, and if he lifted his arms up his fingers were just out of reach of the top. They were narrow, too, not even allowing Ray to slip through them or even get a foothold on the lower horizontal bar. There were only two horizontal bars, one at the bottom and one close to the top of the bars.   
  
Thankfully, there were no spikes on the top of the fence, but it would still be quite an effort trying to get up above the fence. With little footholds, it took Ray a few attempts to be able to figure out a way to boost himself to the top of the fence where he could get a good enough hold.   
  
He fell on his ass a few times, but eventually he was able to boost himself up. His legs scrambled up in a frantic running motion up the vertical bars until he eventually got to the height where he could get a strong grip onto the top where he could drag his whole body to the top.   
  
“Nice to know,” he mumbled as he hauled himself on top of the fence, “that apparently rooftop jumping is apart of our sets of abilities, but fences are just  ooh no , can't pass those bastards without falling on your ass multiple fucking times and scrambling to the top like a fucking -”   
  
He broke off as he jumped from the top, landing in a crouched position on the other side.   
  
“Asshole, and then landing nearly fucking face first in the dirt -” He rambled, standing up and brushing the dirt off his knees, “and I swear to fucking God, Gavin, if you are not down this fucking path or wherever the fuck I end up, I'm going to fucking kill you if you haven't already gotten yourself killed.”   
  
He took a deep breath, studying the area. There was a slight downward slope, and then the ground opened up so that a large pipe ran along the ground. It was too wide and too tall – it would require Ray jumping up again to scramble to the top of it – for someone to drag another on top and over, especially if they were unconscious.   
  
So it was likely they had carried Gavin along the pipeline, not over it. As far as he could tell, on the other side of the pipeline was pretty much the same as what he had just come from: another fucking fence that he was absolutely not excited to try and climb.   
  
And then the thought hit him – how the fuck could they possibly get Gavin over the fence when Ray could barely scramble up himself?   
  
He grumbled, pissed off he hadn't thought of that before he climbed over it.   
  
But the street had been a dead end, there was no where else to go from the car and the tracks hadn't lead to the houses. He scrunched his eyes closed, trying to remember the last second he had seen with his vision and where the tracks had been.   
  
He could only come up with what he had seen earlier – the tracks had definitely lead to the fence. But there were no tracks over the fence, no desperate shoe prints sliding down the vertical bars in an attempt to haul themselves over it.   
  
Frustration built in his chest.  Where the fuck could they have gone from the fence? Was there a track he was missing? Where the actual fuck was Gavin?   
  
If his vision could just work for one more moment, it would make his life incredibly easier. However, no matter how hard he focused, his vision simply refused to obey him.   
  
Feeling even more pissed off, he turned in hopeless circles. He could follow the pipeline, either to the left or right, and hopefully come across something, probably with little luck. He could cross over it, despite the serious possibility the others had.   
  
He turned around to face the fence he had scrambled over before and sighed, narrowing his eyes in annoyance, like if he stared enough in frustration at the fence it would cave and tell him what he wanted to know.   
  
Obviously, that plan didn't work and he eventually gave in. He walked back to it and managed to scramble up after the second attempt, landing on the other side much less gracefully than his previous attempt. He landed down in a crouch, except somehow managed to put too much of his weight backwards and he fell onto his ass, his upper back and neck hitting the fence.   
  
He groaned and went to reach backwards to pull himself up with the help of the fence, except when his left hand clutched around the bar and he began to rise, it fell backwards.   
  
His instant reaction was panic because shit, he just broke the fence and he could definitely not afford to pay for any damages or whatever else. And then the bar stopped, leaning backwards and sticking towards the pipeline.   
  
He turned, standing slowly as he let go of the broken pole. Except, it wasn't broken – it was hanging at such a strange angle that it was definitely impossible for it to be holding like that unless it was built in such a way.   
  
“No way,” he breathed in disbelief, looking down at his feet and finding that to the left of the pole there was now a hole in the ground.   
  
“A fucking secret entrance? Holy shit, what kind of fucking spy show is this?” He mumbled to himself, crouching down to inspect it.   
  
A bunch of emotions rose up; hope, excitement, disbelief and a bit of fear. It could very well be a trap, a hole that lead into the deep pits of Hell.   
  
Or it could lead to Gavin.   
  
And really, that thought was good enough for Ray. Quelling the temptation to yell 'Geronimo!” as he slid down, he decided that just in case there were people down there then he really didn't want to give away his element of surprise.   
  
Whatever the hell that was. It probably shouldn't even be considered a possibility, seeing as how it was probably void the moment he had accidentally opened the trap door into wherever the hell he was.   
  
He went down feet first, and the tunnel ride was long enough for him to really consider his life choices. This was a stupid idea, probably the stupidest idea he had ever had.   
  
Yeah, follow the dark dirt tunnel with absolutely no super-powers or any kind of vision, no back-up, no Gavin, and no idea where the actual fuck he was.   
  
A solid plan by the one and only BrownMan, he mused.   
  
Eventually, he hit the bottom. It slid out into a small, dark room. He crawled out cautiously, feeling along the wall until he hit the door.   
  
He pushed it open slowly, hoping he wasn't about to die. His heart was pounding and the only sound he could hear was his quick breathing and the blood rushing and pounding around in his ears.   
  
The next room was much larger and brighter, lit up with one lamp in the corner. It was a crappy place, almost on level with his apartment in New York, with crumbling wallpaper and torn furniture. There were stains everywhere, and even the lamp in the corner was emitting the ugliest shade of yellow that just made it look like someone had pissed everywhere and on everything a person could ever love.   
  
Even the stench was terrible, even making it smell like someone had actually gone and pissed everywhere. He covered his mouth with his shirt the second the smell hit, wanting to gag and retch (knowing that Gavin would already be on the floor close to throwing up) but containing himself. If he was very, very lucky, then there was a possibility he hadn't been found out yet, and he didn't want to give it away.   
  
He crept along silently, inspecting the small room. There was a kitchen, with plenty of canned food and tins. A hideout, then, and not just some poor bastard's actual house. A hideout in use, obviously, judging by the light that emitted the piss-shade of yellow. The shitty couch also had an indent in it, a small curve in the furniture that reassured Ray that someone was definitely using the place and had been doing so recently.   
  
He just hoped he was in the right place, and not in some crack-addicts home who could probably very easily kill Ray, being as exhausted and as tired as he was.   
  
So far, there was nothing that lead him to another person. Which was both good and worrisome, as he just hoped that the other person hadn't been lead to him.   
  
Alright, so this guy or whatever is cheesy as fuck with cliches and shit. So, find a mantelpiece or something that looks like a lever for a secret door.   
  
Unfortunately, the room was just too small to contain anything like that. He inspected it as well as he could without giving away any indication that he had been poking around, checking the tiny space for a lounge room and checking under the rugs and carpets.   
  
It wasn't until he hit the closet that he finally found the cliché villain set up. It opened up into a small closet, nothing suspicious, except for Ray it was very glaringly obvious that there was a concrete or stone door behind the ironing board folded away in the cupboard.   
  
Very aware that it was also a very stupid idea to head right in, he took a moment to think that he could very possibly die down here if he wasn't careful. He had to be on his guard at all times and expect an attack at every millisecond.   
  
Of course, it didn't stop him at all. He moved the ironing board as quietly as he could, then was able to find the handle on the door. A cellar door, heavy and obviously indestructible against someone trying to kick it down. He opened it as quietly as he could, but it was simply too heavy and made the most loudest noise a door opening could ever make.   
  
He cringed, standing there with the door half open – enough for him to slip by – and waiting for someone to come up either in front or behind him. When there was no such attack, he took another few moments until he set forward.   
  
The sudden loss of flooring made Ray's heart stop for a moment, until he found it just a bit lower. He had stepped onto a step, and he looked down to see there was a lot more steps ahead of him, heading down. At the end of the stairs, though, he could see another door – wooden and like most common household doors – that allowed light to flitter through.   
  
He took the stairs slowly and carefully, finding a piece of candy wrapper and throwing it ahead of him to make sure the steps weren't rigged with traps.   
  
The voyage down the stairs would've been about ten times faster if he had his vision available, but he simply didn't and he grumbled at himself mentally as he made his way down slowly.   
  
His heart rate increased dramatically the closer he got to the stairs. He was sure that if there was anyone beyond the wooden door, they had certainly heard his heart, there was just no way that anyone beyond the door hadn't heard him.   
  
It picked up to the point where he was worried he might even be having something related to a heart attack, increasing ten-fold as his hand curled around the doorknob.   
  
It was only a moment, less than a second, where his vision had turned to x-ray. The moment was all he needed, however. He was able to see it – the four skeletons beyond the door.   
  
Two figures standing to the left and right of the door, ready to attack Ray the second he walked through. Another standing just a bit further back, close to the one standing upright with their hands behind their back.   
  
He put a small mental bet on the latter one being Gavin, and then considered what he was meant to do now.   
  
The one to the left of the door was lean and small, obviously quick and agile. The one to the right, however, probably where the door opened, was a much larger man who looked like he would probably use Ray as a toothpick.   
  
He cursed mentally, unsure of where exactly to go or what to do. He wouldn't make it a step inside that room, not without being bashed over the head and violently beaten up, he was sure.   
  
He didn't have another choice, though. There were no other entrances or exits, no other way to get inside that room except by going through the two or three other guys. He most likely had to do it himself as well, because he didn't like the chances of Gavin actually being conscious and of any help to him when he busted in.   
  
If he could somehow take down the muscle first, he could then move to the smaller guy. Hopefully, the third guy would act as a neutral party or something.   
  
His advantage was that he knew where they were, however his disadvantage was he was going in blind. He had no vision to back him up, wasn't the best at close up fights and against two or three others his chances weren't great.   
  
But Gavin was very possibly in there, alive hopefully, and if Ray could just take them down he would save Gavin, he'd take Gavin home.   
  
Gavin would be fine – he had to be fine. Ray absolutely did not come all this way for Gavin not to be fine.   
  
He didn't have a plan other than beat the shit out of the baddies and save Gav, so of course he didn't waste time trying to figure one out.   
  
“Yolo,” he mumbled, his hand reaching for the doorknob.   
  
He took a deep breath, one last moment of suspense, before he slammed the door open, sending the muscle guy reeling with an “ ow! ” as Ray managed to surprise him with a hard hit to his face.   
  
Unfortunately, the agile guy was immediately on to Ray. He had a smirk on his face, obviously entertained by Ray's techniques, which was just desperate and wild swinging with his fists, hoping to land a blow and yelling out a swear word periodically.

  
The agile guy was quick, way too quick for it to possibly be human. He was light on his feet, easily dodging Ray's pathetic attempts at punching.   
  
Ray wasn't bad at punching – oh no, not at all, but the guy was just insanely fast and making Ray doubt his every swing, making him reconsider if punching was the best idea. After all, the other guy had had plenty of opportunities to swing at Ray and land some very damaging blows, so the fact that he wasn't made Ray nervous.   
  
He had nothing else to back him up though, so he kept swinging. He couldn't see Gavin, the agile man cleverly making sure Ray didn't get a look at his partner. The muscle was also gaining his bearings, closing in to help defeat Ray. He had a heavy nose bleed, something Ray took a moment to congratulate himself for, and if he could just hit him there again maybe he would be very lucky and could keep the muscle guy out for longer.   
  
The third guy, just visible past the agile guy, was standing there, making absolutely no movement other than creepily staring at the ongoing fight. Ray didn't really get the chance to look more closely at him, as the muscle guy was now very quickly and very angrily approaching him.   
  
Ray couldn't dodge the swing from the muscle guy. His own muscles were too tired and he was just too exhausted, and he reacted too slowly to completely dodge the swing. He did, however, manage to make sure that the punch landed on his chest rather than his skull.   
  
It sent him reeling backwards, the air in his lungs instantly sucked out the moment the punch landed on his upper chest. He wheezed, trying to get air in to his lungs standing a couple of steps back from the other two.   
  
They didn't give him a moment to recover. He was still wheezing, trying to stand upright and sure that there was a very likely possibility of a few ribs being absolutely destroyed, but at least it wasn't his skull, because he was pretty sure he would end up with permanent brain damage at the least.   
  
The gap between them was closed in moments, and the muscle guy went for an uppercut which Ray managed to dodge by flinging his head back – and quite possibly breaking his neck, judging by the sound of the crack – but then the agile guy was taking over, his quick and very collected swing landing against the left side of Ray's forehead and he was immediately disoriented, feeling like he had just been thrown out of a thirty storey building holding onto a propeller.   
  
He was thrown to the ground, his hand just barely catching him and stopping him from face-planting into the ground. He managed to throw himself sideways, rolling out of the way of a strong kick from the muscle guy, but then the agile guy was there again, sending Ray back the way he had rolled with a swift kick to his chest.   
  
They gave him no chance to get up, to even try and fight back. If he dodged muscle, he was met with agile. It was frustrating and tiring and dear fucking God did he want to just lay down and die because  holy shit everything was on fucking fire and his hand felt like it was fucking broken and his chest was absolutely shattered and his head was no longer even attached.   
  
He managed to roll over to see a boot coming towards his face and he cringed, waiting for it to break his entire face.   
  
And then, all of a sudden, it wasn't just his face that was in pain. There was a whole millisecond, he wondered if he had just imagined it, where his whole body suddenly felt like he had been set alight.   
  
It stopped almost immediately, and Ray opened his eyes to see that the boot had stopped a couple of inches from his face. It was frozen there, and then it took a moment for Ray to realise that it was the exact same effect he saw when Gavin slowed down time.   
  
Except, when he went to check on Gavin, he realised that he was caught in the “slow-mo” bubble. But it was so much different – because he was aware of it, aware that he was caught in slow motion, when usually time seemed to pass normally whenever Gavin had done the effect, he usually had absolutely no idea that Gavin had even done so.   
  
So for him to be aware both frightened him and excited him. He knew, his mind knew, that he was in slow motion, however his body was refusing to act. He could see the boot now, coming closer and closer but very slowly.   
  
' Maybe... maybe if my mind is aware... '   
  
It was a faint spark of hope, but it was his best chance to defend himself against the boot about to smash into his face in a few moments.   
  
Come on, move! Fucking move!   
  
He screamed at himself mentally, encouraging himself to break through and work through the slow motion. He hoped if he did so it wouldn't break the bubble, just bend it a little so he was no longer trapped inside it while the others were.   
  
Vav's fucking dying or some shit, so fucking get your ass moving!   
  
And then, all of a sudden, the quick rush of pain flashed through him, however it was also gone within moments.   
  
He could move, and the boot was still moments away from his face. He let a huge grin cross his face.   
  
He didn't have long, though, because Gavin had probably used up the last of his energy to conjure the bubble – and it could possibly be a reaction to dying, the body's last attempt at living or something, Ray didn't know – and it would break soon.   
  
He stood from the floor and took one look at the muscle guy, who was only milliseconds from shattering his face a few moments ago. There wasn't enough time for Ray to do what he wanted, and so he just settled on punching the guy as hard as he possibly could right between the eyes.   
  
When Ray's fist connected with the muscle guy's face, the bubble was broken around him too. However, Ray had managed to land the punch of his life, because the muscle guy went down immediately. Just dropped to the floor like a truckload of potatoes.   
  
Ray didn't have the time to admire his work, just kicking the guy incredibly hard in the privates and then moving on to the sneaky little ninja dude.   
  
His foot connected with ninja dude's knee and sent him crumbling when he, too, was broken from the bubble. From there, the element of surprise was on Ray's side and allowed him to send another kick into the guy's backside, sending him sprawled onto the floor.   
  
Ray didn't give him the chance to recover, either. With a blow to the back of the man's head, he was out like a light. Ray had no idea if he had done some serious or even fatal damage, but he didn't really care enough to even give a fuck about the guy.   
  
He whirled, seeing Gavin slouched against his bonds on the pole he was tied to.   
  
And then he managed to look down at Gavin's chest – and holy  fuck there was so much fucking red, dripping down his chest and coating the floor beneath him in a small pool – and then Ray's vision turned red, too.   
  
He wasn't really sure what had happened after that. Pure fury had filled him, and he swore he could've had a glowing aura of red in pure anger that allowed him to beat the shit out of the third guy within a moment.   
  
When Ray came back to himself, the third guy was crumbled on the floor at his feet and littered in all sorts of injuries. Ray winced, allowing a bit of guilt to wash over him before realising the fucker had very seriously hurt Gavin, and then all of a sudden he wasn't very guilty at all.   
  
It was twisted, he knew, but right now he wasn't exactly in top-notch condition. He managed to put himself onto autopilot, checking over Gavin's wounds with practised hands.   
  
After all, he had done it so many times now that his hands barely shook.   
  
“Hey Vav, finally fucking found you, huh?” He muttered, even though Gavin probably didn't hear him considering he was unconscious, probably from the desperate slow motion bubble he had created.   
  
And then he saw it. He had wiped some off the blood off Gavin's chest with the shirt of the third guy – where and when he had gotten the shirt, he wasn't sure -, wondering what new scars he would find under it.   
  
He expected scars. He expected very painful and deep cuts littered over Gavin's chest – a low score in originality and creativity, and he knew Gavin would've been thinking the same when it happened.   
  
Then the score was bumped right up for creativity because of all the things Ray would've expected, a huge 'V' in the exact same style as Vav's logo was definitely not something Ray expected.   
  
In fact, he was pretty sure he was so shocked he had to turn away for a moment because his hands began to shake uncontrollably when they had first touched the open wound and he sat back, feeling himself pale and wanting to throw up.   
  
He couldn't think. He wouldn't think because he wouldn't be able to handle the thoughts that crossed his mind, so he allowed himself to flick over to an emotionless figure.   
  
His damn hands wouldn't stop shaking, though, even though his mind was now steel. He had to focus, he had to help Gavin, because the amount of blood loss he already had was definitely not a good sign.   
  
It took a while, maybe after five minutes of Ray trying his best to stop the blood from beading out of the wound with the shirt and Ray's own clothes, for him to realise that he wasn't the only one shaking. Gavin was, too, even though he was passed out, was shaking from either cold or fear – Ray couldn't quite tell.   
  
Eventually, he managed to bind the shirt down in a pathetic attempt as a bandage to try and stop the bleeding. He investigated the needle that dangled from the roof, attached to something beyond the roof, but he didn't have time to check what it was. Hopefully, it wasn't a slow poison killing Gavin from the inside.   
  
Next to Gavin's feet was a knife, tipped in blood which Ray had no doubt was Gavin's, was the weapon used to hurt him.   
  
He was simmering in anger, but he forced himself to calm down and unbind Gavin. His wrists were red and close to bleeding, and were going to be very sore and painful for a couple of days. His ankles were in better condition- protected by the boots he wore.   
  
Just as Ray was untying Gavin's wrists, prepared to catch him when he slumped forward, Gavin came to.   
  
He babbled something, just intelligible gibberish, before pressing his lips together and doing the motion a few more times before he seemed to be able to speak.   
  
“X-Ray?” he mumbled, croaky and tired and Ray smiled a little.   
  
“The one and only,” he replied, quiet as he worked to untie the knots in the ropes. “Going to get your dumb ass out in a moment, think you can stand?”   
  
Gavin took a moment. “Nah.”   
  
“Nah?” Ray repeated, making sure.   
  
Gavin shook his head in confirmation that no, he was not able to stand. Ray expected as much, but still went forward with undoing the rope. When it was free, Gavin did slump forward and Ray steadied him with a hand to his chest.   
  
Gavin gave him a quick look over.   
  
“You're hurt,” Gavin frowned, apparently trying to move his arm to inspect Ray – he was sure he looked like shit - and then winced and brought it back.   
  
“I am,” Ray admitted. “Not as much as you, though. Gavin, I could kill you, you know that?”   
  
“I know,” Gavin mumbled, something almost guilty in his tone and Ray frowned.   
  
“Alright. However I plan on keeping you alive for the moment, so stay with me, okay?” Ray told him, and Gavin just hummed out something that was neither confirming or denying Ray's demand.   
  
Ray slung Gavin's arm over his shoulder. He was too tired to carry Gavin completely, knowing his legs would collapse immediately. They shuffled forwards, reaching the door when Ray stopped as a thought crossed his mind.   
  
“Gav, how are we going to patch you up?” Ray asked, but he knew Gavin wouldn't have the answer unless he had some secret stash of medical supplies somewhere.   
  
“At ours,” Gavin mumbled, like it was obvious.   
  
“How do we get there, though? The car they used is dead, I think they took out the battery, and neither of us can drive, just in case you forgot. You know, we usually do the whole Batman and Robin Gotham rooftop shit.”   
  
Gavin hummed again and Ray wondered if Gavin was really at all with him.   
  
They continued to walk again, Ray having to prop Gavin up against the wall as he opened the door, and did the same for the cellar door. The slow progress gave Ray some time to wonder what the fuck they were meant to do now.   
  
When they reached the front door of the hideout, the one that lead out to the tunnel he had slid through, he stopped. Surely, there had to be a better exit. He just had to look around for it.   
  
There was one possible alternative they could take once they found a way out, he knew it, and was sure even Gavin knew it too, and it seemed like their only possible choice.   
  
“You trust me?” Ray finally asked, turning to Gavin seriously, who was staring back at him in confusion.   
  
“'Course, X-Ray,” Gavin replied honestly, his eyes narrowing a little and Ray knew he was probably suspicious that Ray even asked the question – of course they knew they trusted each other.   
  
“Okay great, because after this you probably won't,” Ray mumbled, guiding Gavin over to the crappy couch and sitting him down.   
  
“You, don't bleed out on me. I'm going to call for help,” Ray told him, walking over to the cellar door and finding a very convenient lock, which he used and prayed that the other guys didn't have the key or something in case they came around.   
  
“Whose help?” Gavin asked suspiciously, but Ray just sent him a ' you-know-exactly-what-I-fucking-mean' glance and Gavin went “oh,” very, very quietly.   
  
“Are you sure?” Gavin asked, obviously wanting to say more but being clouded with exhaustion and pain he was unable to. It didn't matter, Ray still heard it.   
  
“We have to. We can't get out, and we have to tell them at some point, right? No better time than when one of us is on the brink of death with a huge fucking logo engraved in their chest,” Ray replied, in a joking tone but inside was freaking out.   
  
After all, this was their secret. And they were about to just throw it onto the boys, no gentle wading-into-the-shallows, oh no , they were literally throwing them in the deep end with weights chained on their wrists.   
  
Ray felt sick again as he pulled out his phone. He could get all of them to come down, or just one. Maybe, maybe if he cornered one he could convince them to keep it silent.   
  
Michael was drunk, and Geoff had probably joined him. Jack would probably share their secret, too worried about their health to keep it silent.   
  
His thumb drew circles in the air above the screen that showed Ryan's contact details. With a very deep breath, he hit the call button and pressed it to his ear, pacing impatiently. Hopefully, he could still receive reception.   
  
He sent Gavin a nervous glance when Ryan picked up.   
  
“Hello?” Ryan asked, tiredly and obviously just woke up from Ray's call. He didn't even realise how late it was and felt bad for calling. His voice was crackly, the call being disturbed by bad reception, but at least they had reception.   
  
“Hey, Ry,” Ray said, his voice quiet and just barely concealing his anxiety.   
  
Immediately, Ryan was worried. Ray cursed, because they knew each other too well now, there was just no point of concealing the urgency of the situation.   
  
“You with the others?” Ray asked after a moment, sitting down next to Gavin and Gavin leaned into his side, resting his head on Ray's shoulder. It didn't help with Ray's nerves. After all, Gavin wasn't exactly all down on Earth, and he would most likely be very angry when he found out that Ray spilled.   
  
“Yeah, why? Someone not answering their phone?” Ryan asked, obviously very confused as to why Ray was calling.   
  
“No, no, nothing like that,” Ray assured. “It's... Uh...”   
  
“Ray?”   
  
“Can you go for a drive without them? We just... need you, right now. We can't have the others around,” Ray said, knowing exactly how it would sound if he wasn't on the border of panicking.   
  
“I... Yeah, give me a moment,” Ryan said, and Ray could hear him moving around and mumbling to the others about having to go out for one excuse or another.   
  
Finally, Ryan put the phone back to his mouth. “What the fuck is this about, Ray?” Ryan whispered, at this point obviously concerned about Ray's secrecy.   
  
“Don't ask questions when you're here, we will explain it all after, I promise. Just, do what I say, please?” Ray asked, knowing that he was probably driving Ryan mad.   
  
“Okay, okay,” Ryan promised and Ray let out a breath of relief. He was worried Ryan would push at it, but he must've heard the unnatural panic in Ray's voice, who was someone who kept it very cool usually.   
  
“We don't know exactly where we are. No, we aren't drunk or anything like that. We're at a pipeline, it's an abandoned street near a really high fence, I'll meet you there. I don't know if that's any good, but that's all I got for you,” Ray said, “It's somewhere off where that fire was the other night. Close to that place.”   
  
Ryan took a moment to reply. “You know, I think I might know where you're talking about. Alright, so am I picking you up?”   
  
“And then you're dropping us off at Gav's and mine,” Ray said, and Ryan's breath hitched a little. He knew it was probably a big deal about Ray letting one of them know about their secret place, but right now Gavin was the main priority.   
  
“Thanks, Ry, and just.. don't freak out when you see us,” Ray told him, and Ryan sighed a little.   
  
“I don't think I can be surprised anymore.”   
  
They said their quick goodbyes, and Ray hastily stuffed the phone in his backpocket before checking over Gavin again.   
  
“Hey, Vav,” he said quietly, trying to get Gavin's attention as he seemed to blank out.   
  
“Hey, X-Ray,” Gavin mumbled tiredly.   
  
A pause.   
  
“Who'd you tell?” Gavin asked, suddenly tense and nervous.   
  
“Ry, I told Ryan. Michael's drunk and I would think Geoff is too, and you know Jack cares too much. Ryan, I hope, keeps it secret,” Ray replied, and Gavin just let out an amused smile.   
  
“You know he won't,” Gavin pointed out, and Ray sighed.   
  
“Yeah, I know, they all care too much. Which, y'know, is why we love them but - holy shit I can't believe I actually fucking told Ryan,” Ray fumbled out, the sudden realisation dawning that yes, Ryan was about to show up to pick them up while Gavin was bleeding everywhere after he was just meant to be sick, and Ray had definitely seen better days himself. He was just glad he wasn't wearing his X-Ray costume.   
  
Ray's own breath hitched when he looked down to Gavin's chest. He licked his lips and cleared his suddenly dry throat, Gavin giving him a very strange look before attempting to smile reassuringly.   
  
“I was about to go for a whole thing on how the bloody thing doesn't hurt but I'm not even going to try. It  really fucking hurts, Ray,” Gavin admitted, and Ray couldn't form a coherent thought when Gavin said the last words, quiet and laced with shame.   
  
“What else happened, Gav?” Ray demanded, because he knew Gavin, knew that even through the worst he usually didn't admit to pain until a couple of hours or even days after – so for Gavin to admit it now, so defeated and ashamed of it, Ray immediately knew that the chest injury wasn't the only thing plaguing Gavin's mind.

  
Gavin's mouth opened like a fish for a few moments, and Ray eventually just rose a hand to stop him.   
  
“You know, I'm just glad you're alive,” Ray admitted, and he knew it was cheesy and sappy and whatever but after looking for Gavin for so long, he knew they deserved the moments.   
  
“Missed you, X-Ray,” Gavin said and gave him a soft smile before leaning in, and Ray couldn't even berate him about injuring himself more because then Gavin was placing their lips together.   
  
And yeah, okay, maybe Ray couldn't breathe properly and Gavin was still bleeding and they were just both in shock, but the kiss made them forget that for a moment. They could forget about the couple of painful days they had ahead with explaining to the boys, they could forget that they had lost each other because all that mattered was the moment right there, both of them working together with certainty and familiarity.   
  
Unfortunately, Ray couldn't really hold the kissing for as long as he liked, and he knew it was causing pain to Gavin.   
  
Now, he just had to find a way above to the surface, where he promised to meet Ryan by the fence. The tunnel he had gone down was probably more-so an entrance, not an exit.   
  
“Okay, cliché bullshit exit, you can reveal yourself now,” he mumbled, and then just about shrieked in shock when something dropped to rest against his shoulder.   
  
He turned to see that it was a string and he jumped away from it.   
  
“Y- You have to be shitting me,” he said to himself, while staring in disbelief at the string that dangled from the ceiling.   
  
Gavin laughed at him, and Ray turned to him. “Fuck you,” he said, and then tugged down on it.   
  
A section of wall began to rumble and he only had time to think, oh fuck,  I just assured our deaths , and then the walls began to part, a split down the middle and created a small room.   
  
He glanced back at Gavin nervously, and then took a careful step inside the room. It was small, almost like a small closet, and he felt along the walls until they hit something metal. He felt along it and realised it was a ladder.   
  
“Back in a moment, Vav, don't you  dare fucking die on me,” Ray said to Gavin before he began to climb.   
  
It wasn't a long climb, but it was the most terrifying climb of his life. He was submerged in darkness and he was sure that there would be a trap or something awaiting at the top of the ladder.   
  
When he could go no further, stopped by a closed in ceiling, he cursed in frustration, pounding on the ceiling in anger.   
  
It moved upwards with his fist and he just about rolled his eyes. Climbing up, he used his head to push open the flap and he was hit with the chill of the night.   
  
He hauled himself up and groaned as he laid on the ground for a few moments. He was, thankfully, on the side of the fence with the road. He couldn't deal with anymore fence climbing.   
  
He walked out the front, in front of the fence with the lever. The ladder wasn't too far away, at least.   
  
It took a while for Ryan to eventually drive the car around. Ray waved at him, and Ryan parked it on the curb and got out hurriedly, confusion and worry radiating off him.   
  
“Sup,” Ray said in greeting.   
  
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Ryan asked, taking a suspicious look at Ray who shrugged as innocently as he could.   
  
“Oh, y'know, saving Gavin's ass from three psychopaths who probably wanted the usual. Anyway, come help me get him to the car,” Ray said, as casually as he could, gesturing Ryan over.   
  
He started pushing at the fence until he eventually managed to find the lever, and the pathway opened up.   
  
“What the fuck?” Ryan said, in astonishment, and Ray just grinned at him before sliding down. Ryan, thankfully, followed not to far behind. Ray only just managed to narrowly avoid being crushed by him at the bottom.   
  
Ray wasn't sure what to expect when Ryan saw Gavin, who was getting paler by the minute with blood trickling down his chest from under the stained shirt. Ryan's eyes widened in disbelief, staring at both of them in confusion.   
  
He obviously thought it was a joke or something. After all, that's how Ray would act if he found one of his boyfriend's in some abandoned house, bleeding and injured and wearing a bright blue and red spandex suit from the waist down.   
  
“Come on Ry, we got to move him. We have equipment to treat him back at ours, so I need you to drive us there as quick as you can, okay? The sooner we get this cleaned up, the quicker he's back to being stupid, dumb Gavin,” Ray encouraged, and Ryan took a moment before slowly nodding. He opened his mouth, obviously about to spill out with questions, but Ray sent him a warning glance and Ryan kept his mouth closed.   
  
Ray wondered how Ryan would react when he saw all of their scars.   
  
“Okay, the only way I know out of here is the ladder which is through that room,” Ray said, gesturing to the room, “and so we need to figure out how to get Gav up.”   
  
Ray crouched down at Gavin's feet and began to tap his cheek. Gavin had shut his eyes, obviously on the verge of falling unconscious.   
  
“C'mon Vav,” Ray encouraged, grinning when Gavin grumbled and cracked his eyes open, his head rolling forward.   
  
“Need you to hold on to Ry, okay? We're going to go up a ladder,” Ray told him and Gavin tried his best to bring himself around.   
  
“How boring,” Gavin mumbled and Ray's grin widened.   
  
“Yeah, yeah, like being carved in the chest and then being saved by your super hot superhero partner who then reveals your secret to your boyfriend who then has to carry your bleeding ass up the ladder is anything close to boring,” Ray replied, and Gavin cracked a smile.   
  
Ryan came over and Gavin looked at him sheepishly. Ryan stared in shock at his chest, his mouth opening slightly but Ray stopped him before he could ask any questions.   
  
“Okay, Gav, think you can hold on if Ryan has you on his back?” Ray asked gently. Gavin flexed his hands and then nodded.   
  
“Probably,” he said, “although I'll probably ruin your shirt, Ryan, sorry.”   
  
Ryan was still staring in shock, and took a couple of seconds to reply. “Yeah, uh, no problem.”   
  
With some help from Ray, Gavin was able to get onto Ryan's back and latch on. Ryan could manoeuvre quite easily, even with Gavin on his back, and Ray instructed them to go first up the ladder, as he would hopefully provide some sort of support if Gavin began to slip.   
  
Somehow, they made it to the top, Ryan tumbling to the ground and Gavin went with him and they both groaned. Ray helped Ryan up, asking him to pick Gavin up to take him to the car. He didn't really think that Gavin had enough strength to even walk at that point.   
  
Ryan made his way to the car quickly with Gavin in his arms – an easy carry, and a familiar one, as it was one Ryan used whenever one of the Lads fell asleep on him, which was quite often, gently placing Gavin in the back of the car.   
  
“I'm going to sit in the back with him, keep him upright and watch him. I'll tell you where to go once we get back onto the main roads,” Ray told Ryan, who nodded and slid into the driver's seat.   
  
The car ride was awkward and silent, but Ray couldn't care for conversation when he had to watch the road and Gavin, who was coming in and out of it as he leaned against the car door. Eventually, Ray lead Ryan to their apartment and wondered if he should leave him in the car or take him inside.   
  
If he left him out in the car, there was the very likely chance Ryan would call the others. If he came inside, Ray could keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't call and would be able to explain to Ryan the whole situation while he patched Gavin up.   
  
They snuck through the back doors of the main entrance, going up the elevator with Gavin back in Ryan's arms. Gavin still had enough in him to hold the shirt down to keep some pressure on his chest.   
  
Usually, their wounds never bled so much. They healed slightly faster than most, quick enough to escape most hospital visits, so for the wound to still be bleeding worried Ray. He didn't let Ryan in on that, though, just made him follow to their apartment.   
  
It was small, but it was theirs and Ray felt the instant relief of home wash over him. Maybe it wasn't what he wanted to call home, but it was his and Gavin's and it was familiar and comfort – like they were to each other, and so he called it home. Gavin  was his home.   
  
Ryan put Gavin down on the small sofa and Ray made his way to the bathroom, grabbing their supplies which included the medical kit and all sorts of other things that might help.   
  
Ryan was standing in the middle of the room when Ray returned, but he pushed past him to get to Gavin.   
  
He removed the shirt from Gavin's hands and relief washed over him when he saw that the bleeding had stopped, but his chest was still covered in it. He dabbed at it gently with a wet cloth, washing as much of the blood off as he could, and reminded himself that a shower would probably be best in the morning. He used a towel to dry it off and began to inspect the gashes.   
  
It was familiar to him, almost easy, after so many of these encounters. It still made his heart race and his hands shake as he traced the wounds, though.   
  
“So,” Ryan began, coming over to them from his corner, “can I ask questions now?”   
  
Ray shared a look with Gavin, assuring each other, although Gavin looked completely out of it, and Ray nodded. “Sure.”   
  
“Alright,” Ryan said, and then remained silent.   
  
He remained silent a while. He remained silent for so long that Ray turned from his inspection – almost coming to the conclusion of what he had to do to help the healing – and gave him a strange look. Ryan was deep in thought, obviously trying to think of where to start.   
  
So Ray kick started it as he dug through the medical kit.   
  
“We told you how we met, right?” Ray asked him, and Ryan hummed in affirmation.   
  
Ray recalled their story – it was one he and Gavin constantly recited with each other, a story passed between them that the knew off by heart. A lie.   
  
“We said we met online, on a game of Halo, right?” Ray paused for a moment, going to stand and wash his hands - something he should’ve done first, but had forgotten to do so.   
  
“Met up from there,” Ray continued, “and eventually lived together.”   
  
He grabbed the antibiotic cream, almost empty and he reminded himself to get some more soon, and spread a thin layer over Gavin’s chest, who began to shift in pain. Ray mumbled an apology but kept rubbing in the ointment. There wasn’t a likely chance the wound would get infected, but Ray couldn’t be too sure with such an injury.   
  
“Well, we lied. Sorry about that. And I know you're probably thinking, at this moment, what a big shocker, but what does this have to do with Gavin bleeding all over the place with a big V in his chest, right?” Ray asked, and turned to see Ryan with a sheepish expression on his face.   
  
He frowned when he realised he had completely forgotten if the ointment was meant to go on before or after stitches. He shrugged, deciding both could work, and got out the equipment he needed to stitch Gavin’s wound together.   
  
“Right. Well, just wait, it's too hard to explain unless I start from the beginning. So one day I'm walking along in a … dodgy part of town, and then there's this asshole walking along and causing a fair amount of attention. What the fuck he was doing, if he was on the phone or whatever, is anyone's guess. Anyway, muggers decide to make him a great target.”   
  
He managed to get his hands to stop trembling and began to stitch. He still wasn't great at it, but he was definitely a lot better than what he was before – there was proof, after all, on Gavin. The first stitching, a scar just below Gavin's ribs, looked absolutely fucking terrible. Now, it didn't look absolutely terrible, but it certainly wasn't decent.   
  
“So I, uh, go to help because I knew what was about to happen. Except, in the blink of an eye, all of them are on the ground and Gavin is just standing there, completely fine. It happened in a second. Suddenly, they were just... On the ground.” Ray turned to check on Ryan, who had taken to sit on one of the chairs at the small table.   
  
“And he takes me out for food for my, uh, attempted help. It sort of escalates from there, we go to each other's places a lot, and then Gav figures it out. After all, how else would I know where the muggers were in the town and what was in people's bags and all that sort of shit.”   
  
Finally, he finished with the stitches. He knew that there was the very likely chance that Gavin would tear some, being the idiot he was, but he still wrapped it up in a sheet of gauze to cover it, that would probably have to be changed a few times in the next couple of days.   
  
“The name X-Ray isn't really too far from it. I can see a whole range of different visions, including thermal, some useful tracking one and x-ray,” Ray admitted, turning again to see that Ryan was looking at him with pure disbelief.   
  
Ray sighed. “Of course you don't believe me, who would? Gavin did, though. I mean, he wasn't entirely human either. Well, we are, but we're different. Yeah, Gav the slow mo go. He can, well, create bubbles or something, I really don't fucking know, that sort of slow time ridiculously and he's the only one that can move inside the bubble.”   
  
“At first, I totally thought superspeed. Then, back in that place, he creates a very desperate sphere of slow-motion that got me as well, but I managed to manoeuvre in it. So, it's slow motion powers or whatever.”   
  
“It took a while for Gavin to confess, it took me tripping up and nearly smashing one of his glasses to show it. So we decide to become Batman and Robin, some night time hero shit, protectors of the city or whatever. We decide to just live together and, well, it works well. We work great together. Then we meet you guys, and well, you know the rest,” Ray finished, leaving Ryan to just stare at him sceptically.   
  
Of course Ryan didn't believe him. He probably thought, oh great, It's not even me that's the psychopath in the relationship.   
  
“So,” Ray finally said, moving to sit on the couch next to Gavin and keep him propped up, “any questions?”   
  
Ryan sat in silence again. “Can you prove it?” He finally said, his voice hard and obviously not very willing to put up with the bullshit.   
  
Ray shrugged sheepishly. “See, you asked at the worst time. Our powers act up when we're tired or injured badly. Even when we're hungry. And let me tell you, I am fucking exhausted, and I have been for the past couple of days ever since this fucking idiot went missing.”   
  
“You said he was sick,” Ryan accused and Ray's eyes widened. Right, he forgot that part.   
  
“Okay, yeah, well, surprise, I lied again. Shocker. Anyway, I would show it and prove it to you but my vision has completely run out. It started acting up before, and let me tell you it is absolutely fucking unnerving to see all of your skeletons and thermal figures randomly. By the way, Jack was a little too warm, he might be getting sick.”   
  
Ryan narrowed his eyes suspiciously.   
  
“Right, fine, kidnap story. Anyway, you know that fire? Yeah, well, we got to investigate it and then it turns out it's fine or whatever, so I turn around and Vav's gone. So I spent the past two nights looking for him, covering his ass by saying he's sick. If only.”   
  
“So he was at that place the whole time?”   
  
“Yeah, took some tracking but I found him being basically tortured by three guys. One was a wall of muscle, another this weird ninja thing and then there was fucking Slenderman. Good ol' Slendy, just hanging out. Anyway, I bust in and this idiot has his chest carved out and I got my ass kicked but we managed to take them down and whatever and then we called you. Not a fun experience, would not recommend,” Ray yawned at the end, stretching out his arms above him.   
  
“Oh, and do you mind not telling the others? Please? I think we all want to avoid the embarrassment of that, at least for another few days, and at least until Gavin has healed. He can prove it once he's back to normal or whatever the fuck you want, I guess,” Ray said, waving a dismissive hand. His head lolled back, complete exhaustion overtaking him.   
  
If he just shut his eyes for a couple of seconds, it was fine, right?   
  
He woke up to the sun shining through the blinds, obviously late in the day and he groaned. He turned to see Gavin beside him, propped up with a couple of pillows but still asleep.   
  
Then the events of the days before hit him and he was immediately hit with panic.  When did they get into their bed – did Ryan take them? Where was Ryan? Did Ryan tell the others?   
  
He couldn't find out the answers lying in bed, so very slowly he got out of bed, making sure he didn't disturb Gavin. One look at the clock sent him into a panic, seeing that it was nearly 3PM and it was a Friday – meaning he was very, very late for work.   
  
His vision, at least, was better. Not quite under his control, but it was getting there. He blinked into x-ray and was able to tell that no, Ryan wasn't in the apartment but the couple in the room over definitely were, and were doing some activities that made Ray instantly flick off his vision in embarrassment.   
  
He hunted around for his phone, finding it on charge – probably Ryan's doing, as he always put their phones on charge when they came over if they were anything less than fifty percent – and seeing he had a message.   
  
Opening it, a breath of relief left him. It was from Ryan, basically saying he had told the others Gavin had given Ray the sickness and now they were both just ridiculously ill and that he had gone to theirs in the night to check on them, much to the jealousy of the others. Ryan also told him to ring as soon as he woke up.   
  
He did so, opening the fridge as the phone rang and pulled out a box of pizza.   
  
“Hey, X-Ray,” Ryan greeted, and Ray rolled his eyes as he opened the box.   
  
“Yeah yeah, hi Ryan,” Ray replied, taking out a slice.   
  
“How's Gav?” Ryan asked, and Ray smiled a little.   
  
“Good thinking,” Ray said, “putting the blankets on him. I would've told you to do it, but unfortunately I fell asleep on you. Sorry about that.”   
  
“Not a problem. Noticed you two were a bit cold, so I thought the blankets would help or something,” Ryan said, almost embarrassed and Ray realised he probably thought Ray might get angry at him for being in the apartment when neither Ray or Gavin was awake.   
  
“Yeah, our bodies focus on healing rather than warmth when they hit a certain point of pain I guess. Or exhaustion. Anyway, thanks.”   
  
“Also,” Ryan continued, back to his embarrassed tone and Ray frowned because he didn't really like the sound of that, “I had a look around.”   
  
Ray groaned.   
  
“Nice suit, by the way. Fluoro green, not subtle at all. Would've gone like a black or blue or something, seeing as you’re the night time crusaders or whatever, but hey, I'm not the superheroes. And Gav, bright blue and red. Bright, but not at all surprising. I see what the wound means, now, at least. Bet he's glad they didn't do the top hat,”   
  
Ray's mind suddenly shoved an image of Gavin's chest to him and he shuddered. Gavin probably wouldn't be glad for anything for a few days.   
  
Another silence. Ray and Ryan suddenly spoke at the same time, a jumble of words, and they both stopped and waited for the other to speak.   
  
“You didn't tell them, did you?” Ray asked, and Ryan sighed heavily.   
  
“I didn't. I mean, I usually would because hey, our fucking boyfriends are either insane and belong in a mental hospital or they're constantly risking their lives every night, but I- We should wait until Gavin is better,” Ryan answered, and Ray smiled.  His boyfriend was awesome .   
  
“Hey, thank you. Seriously. This whole thing is big, we know, and we're sorry, for what it's worth,” Ray told him.   
  
“I mean, at least it explains your clothes fetish,” Ryan said, his tone light and playful and Ray laughed.   
  
“Yeah, well, maybe one day that'll change,” Ray answered, as nonchalantly as he could.   
  
“I think there's a long way before we get to that, though,” Ryan said, his tone changing to serious.   
  
“Not if we start with, hey guys, look at Gavin's sweet new scar!”   
  
“No.”   
  
“No? Damn.”   
  
Ryan laughed. “I think we should start easy. After all, it'd be a shock to them, right?”   
  
“What would be? The fact that woah, under these shirts we actually have nipples, who knew? Not the others, because how the fuck could they know? For all they know, we have six nipples and small, floppy dicks attached to our chests.”   
  
“You don't have small, floppy dicks attached to your chests.”   
  
“What about small Italians?” Ray tried, his grin so wide his cheeks began to hurt.   
  
“Jesus fucking Christ, Ray. You just have two nipples each, and a fuck-load of scars and whatever else littering your chests.”   
  
“You sure?”   
  
“I'm sure. Got a good look last night. You're explaining every single one. Also, I'll try and check on you tonight or tomorrow. Expect a call from the other boys, too.”   
  
“Thanks, Ry,” Ray said, sincerely.   
  
“Just don't get into – ah, what the fuck am I saying. Just don't fucking die,” Ryan told him, his voice serious and Ray laughed.   
  
“Bye, Ryan.”   
  
He ended the call with a large grin on his face. Nice to know Ryan seemed to be somewhat okay with their nightly duties. Well, maybe not okay but definitely better than Ray could have expected.   
  
There was a packet of painkillers on the kitchen bench and he mentally thanked Ryan before downing a couple. It would be a while before Gavin woke up, as either of them did when they were injured badly, and he settled down on the couch to watch some lousy daytime television.   
  
He got up a couple of times to check on Gavin. He was caught in a nightmare, if his thrashing and incoherent mumbling was anything to go by, but waking him could be dangerous as he might not be able to get back to sleep for some time.   
  
At one point, near 8PM, Ryan came by. He knocked on the door quietly, and Ray let him in with a tired smile.   
  
“How you holding up?” Ryan asked him, standing awkwardly at the door. He was obviously uncomfortable with being in the apartment.   
  
“Better, thanks for the painkillers. Tired as fuck, though, and I think I won't be able to rooftop jump for a while,” Ray admitted, plonking himself down on the couch and gesturing for Ryan to help himself to the fridge.   
  
He didn't, he just sat next to Ray. “Rooftop jumping?” He questioned, and Ray smiled at him.   
  
“We don't have enough for a Batmobile, so we gotta get around somehow, right?” Ray told him and Ryan stared at him, trying to tell if he was joking or not, and then when he realised Ray was serious he shook his head in amusement.   
  
“How's Gav?” Ryan asked, and Ray sent a glance towards the bedroom.   
  
“Nightmares, at the moment, and they'll be there for a long time. Can't do much about it. He'll be alright for work on Monday, I think,” Ray answered, and Ryan nodded.   
  
“That's a bit soon, isn't it?”   
  
“If I had to put up with seeing all of you as skeletons for the day, I'm sure he can deal with it.”   
  
Ryan sent him a strange look and he shrugged. “Kidding. But he should be fine, he might not be as energetic or anythin' but he'll be okay.”   
  
Ray got up to get a bottle of water and threw one at Ryan, who nodded in thanks.   
  
“He won't be up for a while,” Ray said, “so if you're waiting for him to get up, he probably won’t be tonight. The others will be worried.”   
  
“Not as worried when they find out what you two morons are doing,” Ryan warned, and Ray sighed.   
  
“Probably,” was all he said, not really up for the topic.   
  
“So, any good stories at least?” Ryan asked, and Ray gave him a cheeky smile.   
  
“Plenty, but once this whole thing calms down we'll tell you all when we're together.”   
  
Ryan went along with it.   
  
“Of all the stories,” Ryan began, his voice full of wonder, “you tell me  this . Couldn't have been that you two got in a serious fight -”   
  
“Explaining why we were out walking so late would be annoying, and the carving is a bit weird, don't you think? Wouldn't we have to explain our injuries? How we got out? Too many fine details full of bullshit neither of us are bothered with anymore,” Ray cut him off, and Ryan just tilted his head slightly.   
  
“It would've been more believable than fucking superpowers,” Ryan continued, and Ray just shrugged.   
  
“Got me there,” Ray admitted, throwing his hands up, “but at least it's the truth.”   
  
“Oh, right,” Ray said suddenly, remembering, “I can prove it now.”   
  
“Yeah?” Ryan said, and Ray nodded in confidence.   
  
“Fuck yeah I can. We can do hide and seek and I can find you in about one second, you can go into another room and hold up some fingers and I'll tell you what you held up or anything like that,” Ray explained, and Ryan took the options into consideration.   
  
“You could have hidden cameras,” Ryan accused, and Ray felt his eyebrows raise in surprise. True, that was something he hadn't considered a possibility.   
  
“Alright, here, you can pat me down and check me for any electronics, and then place me wherever you think is best, like the closet or a cupboard or whatever will ease your mind,” Ray said, and Ryan shook his head.   
  
“Now you're just mind-fucking with me, aren't you? Powers of mind-fuckery,” Ryan declared, and Ray face-palmed.   
  
“Yeah, sure, go with that,” Ray said, then went stiff as Ryan did begin to pat him down, and wasn't at all embarrassed by the search, going wherever anything was possible to hide.   
  
“Foreplay?” Ray teased, and Ryan just grumbled something when the only things he was able to pull out of Ray's pocket was his phone and some scrap pieces of paper.   
  
“Please, that's more Michael's thing,” Ryan replied and Ray had to admit that was true.   
  
Ryan stayed around for a couple more hours, asking questions such as Ray's full extent of visions and asking him to describe them as best as possible. Asked how long he had them, if anyone else knew – his family, Gavin and Dan – and if they were superheroes, how come they weren't all over the media?   
  
They searched around on the web a bit for X-Ray and Vav, but it came up with nothing except articles written by fantasy-lovers that no one ever believed. Dan had definitely been doing an excellent job.   
  
It was late, almost 11PM, by the time Ryan left. Soon after, Ray crashed in the bed, next to Gavin.   
  
He was woken around 3AM to the shuffling of sheets and violent coughing, his vision flicking over to night vision and he looked around carefully.   
  
The movement was coming from Gavin, who suddenly sat completely upright – managing to scare the absolute shit out of Ray – before untangling himself from the sheets and sprinting to the bathroom.   
  
He wasn't sure how Gavin had the energy to sprint there, but he was sure glad that Gavin somehow did, hearing the sounds of violent throwing up. He groaned and rolled out of bed, quietly padding his feet on the ground and standing at the door frame of the bathroom.   
  
Gavin had collapsed on the tiles, his head hanging over the toilet bowel and was breathing heavily.   
  
Ray stood behind him, rubbing his back in comfort.   
  
“What the fuck was that, dude?” Ray managed to say, his voice croaky and full of tiredness.   
  
“Th- The knife was laced,” Gavin said, before being interrupted by another few moments of throwing up.   
  
“Alright, gross,” Ray groaned, “and laced with what? Poison?”   
  
Gavin shook his head, attempting to reach for a towel but his hands shook so violently that Ray grabbed it for him, passing it him. “A toxin, probably, I'm not sure,” Gavin mumbled.   
  
“What'd it do, other than making you violently throw up?”   
  
“I think... I'm pretty sure it was like a hallucinogen. Or some sort of mind-altering thing,” Gavin said, his face twisting slightly as he apparently remembered its effects.   
  
“Good thing you're throwing it back up, then. Do you remember how I saved your ass, at least?” Ray asked, frowning when Gavin turned at him and looked at him in confusion.   
  
“'M not sure,” he admitted, and Ray sighed.   
  
“Well, Ryan's in on it,” Ray recalled, “in on us. Just Ryan, though. He's covering our asses.”   
  
Gavin went quiet for a while.   
  
Then he sat back from the toilet, trembling from exhaustion.   
  
“Can you make it back to bed?” Ray asked him, quiet and gentle. Gavin was probably pissed off, even if he was half-out of it.   
  
Finally, Gavin shook his head.   
  
When Ray went to pick him up, though, Gavin flinched – obvious even amongst the trembling. Ray withdrew quickly, shock burning through him.   
  
No matter how pissed off they could be with each other, they never flinched away from each other – they were just too familiar, too comfortable with one another.   
  
Gavin mumbled a very soft apology, and although Ray did help him up he still frowned in concern. What had Gavin told him about what happened? The obvious scarring, caused by the knife which was laced with a toxin – hallucinogen and mind-altering.   
  
By the time Ray had managed to get Gavin back into the bed, propped up on the pillows, he was already out of it. Ray sighed, a little frustrated he couldn't ask more.   
  
He threw the blankets over Gavin and then got onto his side of the bed, restless for a while until he eventually settled into a disturbed sleep.   
  



	3. 3

Gavin woke up again at some point, and he immediately regretted doing so.  
  
His eyes didn't open for a while, too focused on trying to dispel some of the pain in his chest. He kept his breaths as small as he could, trying to keep his chest as still as possible.   
  
It took a while until he was eventually able to even think of anything else except the pain. Memories flooded back to his mind and he winced, opening his eyes and trying to see something else other than the images that his mind was violently harassing him with.   
  
It was daytime, and the shitty curtains didn’t really put in an effort into keeping the sunlight out. It had to have been almost midday, and it looked quite warm and sunny outside, however he felt no warmth.   
  
In fact, he felt rather cold. It wasn’t unusual to have a chill in his body after a fight or injury, and he suspected with such a deep wound he wouldn’t be able to get rid of the chill for some time.   
  
He moved his arms gently, wincing as his chest began to flare up again. He managed to wrap a blanket around his shoulders, but when he turned to get off the bed he stopped.   
  
Most of whatever energy he had left had abandoned him with the early morning run to the bathroom. His legs, he knew, wouldn’t be able to hold him if he stood.   
  
An uncomfortable sickness began to stir in his stomach and he groaned.   
  
“Stop it,” he told his stomach in a very hoarse voice, “stop it right bloody now.”   
  
He wasn’t sure if it was hunger, or just his stomach up for another round of throwing up. Either way, he was pretty sure it would be a good idea to go to the bathroom and see if anything did come up.   
  
“Ray?” He called out, his voice cracking and making most of the word quiet. He cleared his throat, wincing when it moved his chest a bit too much, and tried again.   
  
“Ray?” It wasn’t too loud, just slightly above his normal volume. Thankfully, though, a few moments later Ray peeked his head into the door with a relieved look on his face.   
  
“Sup, Vav,” Ray greeted, walking in cautiously.   
  
“Bathroom,” Gavin said, and Ray looked like he was about to joke something along the lines of “ oh, so that’s how you greet your Prince Charming? ” but shut it, instead just nodding and moving to get next to Gavin, wrapping a gentle arm around his waist and helping him hobble to the bathroom.   
  
When he got there, his stomach decided that yeah, throwing up was what it wanted more. He collapsed back on the cool tiles and groaned, Ray once again helping him with the towel.   
  
“How about a shower?” Ray asked from beside him and Gavin gave him a blank look.   
  
“You saying I smell?” Gavin teased, his voice weak and scratchy from the trauma of throwing up his throat had gone through.   
  
“Of blood and B.O, absolutely, so how about it?” Ray prodded, moving to help him up.   
  
Gavin grumbled a response, trying to say something like “ _you smell_ ,” but quelled it when Ray helped him up. The pain was blinding for a few moments and he breathed heavily, scrunching his eyes and gritting his teeth.     
  
Eventually, he was able to nod and Ray helped him over to the counter, where he managed to get Gavin’s blanket, pants and bandages off.   
  
“Needed changing anyway,” Ray told him, stripping off the last bandage off and throwing it to the floor, where it joined his pants - pajama shorts, and he wondered exactly when he had got changed into those - and the blanket.   
  
He stood there, shivering, as Ray turned on the water. Ray sent him a worried glance before helping him into the stream of water.   
  
The tap was quite ridiculously set on a high level of heat, but to Gavin it was quite a nice temperature.   
  
He gave up on standing almost immediately, Ray helping him sink to the floor. Ray crouched just out of reach of the stream, ‘ ow ’ing dramatically when the hot water scalded him. It didn’t stop him, though, from helping Gavin clean the blood from his chest that Ray hadn’t the night before.   
  
They sat on the floor for a while, Gavin taking comfort from the warmth. It took a lot of coaxing from Ray to convince him that it wasn’t so cold without the water, and besides, he would have to deal with third degree burns soon if he didn’t get out of the hot stream.   
  
Eventually, Gavin got out and Ray tried as quickly as he could to dry him and wrap fresh dressing around his chest. He then threw Gavin some clean and comfortable clothes, who got them on with some effort, and then wrapped himself in some blankets.   
  
Ray helped him to the couch, where Gavin sat propped up with his legs on the coffee table. The drawl of midday television filled the room with noise as Ray went to the bathroom again to get the painkillers.   
  
Gavin was really a fan of just ignoring his problems and not at all good at confronting them, so when Ray eventually broke their silence after he gave him the painkillers and asked what had happened, Gavin froze up.   
  
_‘Come on, you sausage, it’s Ray for God’s sake,’_ he told himself.   
  
“They didn’t like us coming in on their territory,” he started, “I’m pretty sure we must’ve busted one of their crime things or whatever. They wanted to play a game of like, twenty one questions or something.”   
  
“So what you’re saying is they were teenage white dudes?” Ray joked, and Gavin shot him a small smile before going back to it.   
  
“They asked for my name, my real one. I came up with…,” he trailed off, trying to remember what name he had actually given them. “Right, Dan Brown.”   
  
“Sounds like a good guy, think I can meet him sometime?” Ray commented, and Gavin just rolled his eyes.   
  
“They went with that. I mean, I said that after I named most of the royal family. They didn’t like my jokes very much.”   
  
“I like your jokes,” Ray said.

“I’m glad someone appreciates them.”   
  
“Even though they suck,” Ray muttered. Gavin turned to him and stuck his tongue out.   
  
“You suck,” Gavin replied, confident in his reply even though it really wasn’t that great.   
  
“Yeah, I do, but you enjoy it,” Ray retorted and Gavin just grinned.   
  
“Anyway, I basically pissed them off and then they bloody started doing this,” he recalled, gesturing to his chest. “It was definitely laced, though, some kind of drug or toxin or some bloody thing.”   
  
“Did it affect you?” Ray asked, looking at him seriously.   
  
“I.. I think so, it was a little hint at first. It just started making my mind all spaffy-”   
  
“What, moreso than it already is?”   
  
“Yep, started making me question if you were coming or not. I mean, that might sound stupid, but not ever once have I doubted you and it was just a fly-away thought. Anyway, then those three guys started appearing as you, Michael and Ryan. Started playing out like if they found out, if you told them and they started to…” He trailed off, his face scrunching as he remembered the scene.   
  
“What, Gav?”   
  
“They didn’t like it, basically. I mean, I know it wasn’t them and it was that stupid bloody toxin or whatever but it was still pretty damn terrifying,” he finished, not really wanting to go into the details of the whole situation. He knew he’d have to, at one point, but it wasn’t now.   
  
“Well, Ryan’s not doing too bad. He’s covering us, for the moment, so we’re good there I think,” Ray said, and Gavin nodded.   
  
It was still a shock to him to think that after all that time, one of their boyfriends knew. Maybe not everything, at least, but they still knew that Ray and Gavin had lied about a good portion of their life.   
  
“I don’t think he really believes us, though,” Ray admitted, “just have to wait for you to prove it.”   
  
Gavin just shot him a lazy smile and Ray returned it.   
  
Some of the darker thoughts began to dispel. Ryan knew about them, and he didn’t seem to want to leave them or abandon them.   
  
The day passed slowly, the only mildly exciting thing happening being that Ryan rung them around 5PM, checking up on them.   
  
Ray answered the phone, switching it to loudspeaker without telling Ryan.   
  
“Yo,” Ray answered, and there was a bit of static on Ryan’s end but it cleared up fairly quickly.   
  
“Glad to hear you’re alive,” Ryan remarked.   
  
“Alive and in one piece, somehow,” Ray replied, and Ryan chuckled.   
  
“How’s Gav?” Ryan asked, and Ray sent Gavin a glance and he took the hint.   
  
“Bloody top!” Gavin yelled, as best he could - which, admittedly, wasn’t really anything close to yelling - and Ryan was silent for a moment before he laughed.   
  
“Hello, idiot,” Ryan said fondly.   
  
“Hello, lovely Ryan,” Gavin sung, and he could basically hear Ryan rolling his eyes.   
  
“I’m at the shops, right now, without any of the others. Have any of them called?” Ryan asked.   
  
“Yeah,” Ray answered, “Michael called earlier. Wished us the best in his usual sweet way with ‘get fucking better, assholes, feeling a bit outnumbered with the gents.’”   
  
“My poor boi,” Gavin mumbled.   
  
“He should be enjoying it, most of the attention is now on him,” Ryan pointed out, and Gavin considered it for a moment.   
  
“My lucky boi,” he corrected himself.   
  
“Anyway, they’re trying to get you two to stay at ours for the night on Monday. I might be able to push for Tuesday, Wednesday if it’s a miracle. You know what it’s like with Geoff, if he wants it to happen it probably will.”   
  
“Things can be changed with the blowjob of persuasion,” Ray commented.   
  
“Exactly,” Ryan agreed.   
  
“Yeah yeah,” Gavin grumbled, “just do a top job and try for Wednesday. I don’t think I’ll be any good for Monday, especially if I go to work.”   
  
“You’re not going to work,” Ray and Ryan said together, and Gavin spluttered a noise of protest.   
  
“You can’t, it’s too dangerous. You’re usually much better than this on like.. the third day of healing, so you’re behind on it. You need rest,” Ray ordered, and Gavin folded his arms petulantly.   
  
“We’ll cover,” Ryan promised. “Just try and heal up for Wednesday - you know how we get when we’ve been away from each other for some time.”   
  
“Oh, we know,” Ray and Gavin said in sync, sending each other knowing glances.   
  
“Right, well, I need to stock up on whatever cereal Michael wants a shitload of, so I’ll talk to you two later,” Ryan said, and Gavin and Ray said goodbye in unison before the call ended.   
  
Gavin watched as the sun went down, and then sent an expectant glance towards Ray, who looked at him in confusion.   
  
“Aren’t you going out?” Gavin asked, gesturing pointedly to the suits draped over the chairs.   
  
“Nah,” Ray responded, “gotta make sure you don’t have a stroke or something.”   
  
Gavin was about to argue it, but then saw the worry flicker in Ray’s eyes and he dropped it. If the same thing had happened to Ray, he was pretty sure that he himself wouldn’t let go of Ray for a few days.   
  
“But, X-Ray, think of the children!” Gavin cried dramatically.   
  
“What children? Those fuckers should all be asleep in bed,” Ray replied. “Seriously, fuck it. The city can go fuck itself for a night.”   
  
Gavin just hummed something close to an agreement. After all, he really appreciated Ray’s comforting presence, so why not be a little bit selfish?   
  
“Want some dinner?” Ray casually asked, his head looking up from under his tangle of limbs.   
  
Gavin glanced at him and tried his best to shrug. “Not really up to it, I'll just have whatever you get.”   
  
Ray frowned and Gavin just tried his best at a reassuring smile. The effort of it, thankfully, seemed to satisfy Ray and he nodded, standing up from his strange position he had tangled himself in to go and order food.   
  
He knew his stomach probably wouldn't keep down the food, but going so long without eating was definitely a worry. He told his stomach to suck it up and deal with it for now, and that it could complain about the food later.   
  
Chinese takeout was apparently the choice Ray made, walking back in with the question of “does fried rice sound good?”   
  
Gavin nodded, and no it bloody did not sound good at all, but he knew Ray would probably force-feed him if he didn't at least make the effort.   
  
“Should we tell them?” Ray asked, once he sat back down normally on the sofa next to Gavin.   
  
Gavin turned to him slightly, and considered the words.   
  
It had definitely crossed his mind a lot over the past couple of hours. They would have to, very soon, with Ryan knowing about it. However, there were definitely a large amount of risks with telling them.   
  
_Like abandoning you,_ the dark voice began and Gavin grit his teeth together.   
  
_Shut up,_ he told it, and tried to think around it.   
  
“I mean, we have to tell them sometime,” Gavin offered, and it didn't seem to help Ray with his inside dilemma.   
  
“Yeah, but is Wednesday really the best time?” Ray asked, and Gavin tried another shrug. He didn't know – of course he didn't know. It probably wasn't, but it was definitely better than telling them all when either Gavin was missing or when Ryan found out. He didn't really want to sit through four lectures, and at least when after the majority of the healing had been done he could say “ _hey surprise, I was kidnapped and tortured and whatnot, but don't worry, it's all good now!”_  
  
 _Like that would go down any better._   
  
“I mean, it gives us four days to go about it,” Ray continued on.   
  
“Not too bad,” Gavin commented, and Ray sent him a blank look.   
  
“Also possibly the last four days they bother putting up with our shit,” Ray replied, and although it was meant to be a more joking remark it still made Gavin shrink back from the topic of conversation.   
  
“I- Sorry. Just, if you go back to work on Monday it at least gives us a chance to test their behaviour. We can hint at it, right? Maybe ask some simple questions and start getting more deliberate,” Ray said, mostly to himself, but Gavin shook his head.   
  
“Dancing around the topic is something they don't really appreciate. Just get right to the point, they'll pick up that we're trying something,” Gavin pointed out, and Ray nodded in agreement.   
  
“We could rock up to work in our suits,” he tried, and Gavin sighed.   
  
“While I'm sure seeing us in spandex is something they'd all enjoy, I don't think they would appreciate the story of it afterwards,” Gavin argued.   
  
Ray rubbed a hand tiredly over his face. “Fuck, this is going to be annoying.”   
  
“You're annoying,” Gavin replied childishly, throwing up a hand on instinct to block the flying pillow that came his way.   
  
“Fuck you too,” Ray said in response and Gavin grinned cheekily.   
  
They sat there in their thoughts until the Chinese dinner arrived, and Ray went up to deal with it. He placed a container of fried rice in front of Gavin, who leaned forward and looked at it for a while, trying again to decipher what the turning of his stomach meant.   
  
He managed to get in a couple of forkfuls before the churning definitely became a sickening one. Somehow, he managed to keep those mouthfuls down and Ray high-fived him for doing so.   
  
“Alright, now that you've actually had something to eat, you're going to fuck off to sleep,” Ray ordered, already moving to help him up.   
  
It was late, and Gavin definitely was tired, so when his head hit the pillow he almost instantly fell asleep.   
  
It wasn't a peaceful sleep, not by a long shot, but when he woke up he couldn't remember any of it, and the only evidence he had that it was a bad sleep was the cold sweats and his heart hammering in his chest. Otherwise, though, it was good progress.   
  
The sun was beating down again when he woke up, and he groaned as his body slipped back into consciousness. Ray was asleep beside him, still, although he had kept a distance from Gavin – he must've been thrashing around a bit, then.   
  
The Sunday flew by. They managed to get away with staying inside, in the apartment and playing Xbox for most of the day while snacking on light foods. Gavin was able to keep most of it down, only needing to throw up once after he had a bit too much butter on his toast.   
  
For most of the day, the only sounds was their joking banter and the sounds of the game. Geoff rung in the afternoon, checking in on them.   
  
Gavin answered the phone immediately after checking the caller, pausing the game and sending Ray a warning glare to not try and unpause it with his controller.   
  
“Geoffrey!” Gavin called out, his voice a bit higher than normal.   
  
“Hey bud,” Geoff replied, and Gavin could just imagine his sly slime.   
  
“Thought you forgot about me,” Gavin accused, and Geoff laughed.   
  
“If only I could,” Geoff teased. “Unfortunately, though, your dumb remarks and just... overall dumbness has left a hole that I can't fill, not even with Michael's shitty impersonations.”   
  
Gavin heard Michael in the background shouting with his attempted Gavin-accent: “ _Oi, don't be a donut!”_   
  
Gavin rolled his eyes and huffed.   
  
“Anyway, how's your head? Still working?” Geoff asked jokingly and Gavin laughed.   
  
“Not at all, think I lost it some time ago,” Gavin replied, rapping against his head with his knuckles a couple of times. “No, wait, found it.”   
  
“Fucking idiot,” Geoff mumbled. “Is it alright to come in tomorrow?”   
  
Gavin remained silent for a minute. “Yeah, yeah I guess so,” he replied, sending Ray an affirmative glance when he sent him a questioning one.   
  
“You sure you're up for it, bud?” Geoff asked, obviously concerned and Gavin huffed again.   
  
“I'm sure, I'll be in tomorrow,” Gavin affirmed and he could imagine Geoff's shrug.   
  
“Alright, your call, but I'll keep the hospital on speed-dial,” Geoff answered and Gavin grinned.   
  
“Also,” Geoff continued, almost nervously, “we haven't seen you for a few days now, so is Tuesday night a good night to come over for bevs?”   
  
“I'll check,” Gavin answered, then covered the phone's microphone so it couldn't pick up on what Gavin and Ray said next.   
  
“Ryan obviously didn't do a miraculous blowjob,” Gavin said to him, and Ray just smiled a little.   
  
“He makes up for it in other areas,” Ray reassured, and then waved it off when Gavin went to talk more on the subject. “It's fine, we'll work it out.”   
  
Gavin gave him a cautious look before shrugging and going with it.   
  
He uncovered the mouthpiece. “Yeah, it's fine,” Gavin told Geoff.   
  
“Great, well we'll talk tomorrow I guess. Look after yourself, dickhead,” Geoff told him, and Gavin smiled again.   
  
“You too, Geoffers,” Gavin said, and then the call ended.   
  
Gavin went to bed shortly after that, although he didn't quite fall asleep for some time.   
  
Ray joined him at one point, tangling their legs together.   
  
“You know we'll work it out, right? Like, Ryan is on our side,” Ray mumbled, “I hope.”   
  
Gavin just sighed.   
  
“How do you think they're going to handle it, Ray?” Gavin asked, wincing when he attempted to shift to face Ray and ended up just flaring up his chest again.   
  
“Uh, not well, probably,” Ray answered. “I mean, I don't think even they'll know what to think at first. They won't believe us,”   
  
“Jeez, I wonder why.”   
  
“A plus support there, Gav,” Ray said, and Gavin rolled his eyes. “So we need proof, right?”   
  
“I guess so,” Gavin mumbled, knowing exactly what it meant.   
  
“So you need to show your kick-ass powers to them, Vav,”   
  
“Michael will probably kick my ass,” Gavin mumbled.   
  
“So will Geoff, Jack, possibly even Ryan and most definitely me,” Ray reassured and Gavin huffed. “When you’re better, of course,” Ray continued.   
  
“They’ll also kick yours,” Gavin pointed out, and Ray shrugged again.   
  
“Yeah, but then maybe we can all make up for it with an excellent banging session.”   
  
It was silent again, Gavin trying to shift as best he could without aggravating his chest.   
  
“Night, Vav,” Ray tiredly mumbled.   
  
“Night, X-Ray.”   
  
  
The next morning, Gavin was disturbed from his sleep by the annoying sound of the pestering alarm. Ray, thankfully, shut it up before Gavin could even consider the thought of moving to do so.   
  
Ray tapped his arm until eventually he grumbled a response that yes, he was awake, and yes, he absolutely regretted deciding to go to work.   
  
Eventually, though, he managed to rouse himself. Ray helped him, and even managed to change his bandages without Gavin complaining too much, too tired to even bother.   
  
He was able to eat a piece of toast and keep it down, although his progress through it was significantly slowed when Ray constantly pestered him with questions asking if he was okay (yes, he was fine), if he was sure he wanted to go to work (and yes, he did, even if he despised the early morning get up) and if he really was sure with seeing the others who were bound to ask questions (yes, mostly, as long as Ray helped.)   
  
They got a ride with Miles, Ray keeping the conversation going well enough so that Gavin could get away with very little talking.   
  
When they walked in, Ray walked in front of Gavin - a subconscious act of protection, shielding Gavin.   
  
A few walked up to Gavin, including Burnie and Gus, asking them both how they were feeling, and both of them brushed it off easily. They were fine, they were alive, and they were getting better.   
  
They made their way into the Achievement Hunter office, and then all of a sudden Ray vanished from in front of him.   
  
Gavin looked down to see that Michael had pounced on Ray, and now they were on the floor wrestling.   
  
Eventually, Michael had managed to straddle Ray, effectively winning their wrestling match.   
  
“Fuck,” Michael eventually said, a bit out of breath, “I thought you were Gav.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Ray replied, a large smile on his face. Michael just scoffed before leaning forward and captured their lips together.   
  
Gavin was pulled away by Ryan, who wrapped his arms from behind around Gavin’s hips - carefully avoiding his chest. Ryan ducked his head down a little, pressing a kiss to Gavin’s hair before speaking quietly in his ear.   
  
“Good to see you’re okay,” he said, and Gavin just watched as Ray and Michael made their way off the floor, big smiles on their faces.   
  
“Of course I am,” Gavin answered quietly, smiling a little.   
  
“Yeah, well, seeing you bleeding everywhere and looking like you’re on the verge of death made me think otherwise,” Ryan replied, and Gavin squirmed a little as guilt washed over him.   
  
“So you’re telling them tomorrow?” Ryan asked, and Gavin could tell he was carefully eyeing the others as they tried to approach.   
  
“Seems so,” Gavin answered, then spun around quickly to avoid looking at the others. “You’ll help us, right?”   
  
“Of course,” Ryan answered, and they shared a smile before Gavin stood a little taller to kiss him.   
  
And yeah, okay, maybe the stretch did hurt his chest and he was pretty sure he almost broke a couple of stitches but being able to kiss Ryan again - any of them - made him forget the pain for a moment.   
  
When Ryan let go of him, he was immediately whirled into someone else’s chest and he almost let a noise of pain slip through his lips as his chest was jostled, catching Ray’s concerned look to the corner of his eyes and trying to smile.   
  
It was Jack, who also pressed a kiss to the top of his head.   
  
“How’re you feeling?” He asked, and Gavin gave him a small smile.   
  
“Top,” he answered, and Jack just rolled his eyes and kissed him.   
  
Geoff then pulled him out of Jack’s embrace - and seriously could they just be a bit more gentler because _bloody ow, that hurts_ \- and grinned.   
  
“Hey, dickhead,” Geoff greeted, and Gavin couldn’t keep the smile from his face.   
  
“What’s up, Geoffers?”   
  
“I’m probably about to be told off for the amount of gay shit going on in the office, that’s what,” he answered.   
  
“Hey, we haven’t banged here yet!” Ray called out, and Michael elbowed him.   
  
“Yet,” Ryan added.   
  
“Shut up, assholes,” Geoff said, “we can save the banging for tomorrow.”   
  
Gavin missed any response the others said, as Geoff had distracted him by crashing their lips together.   
  
“Alright, gay time over, let’s get to work boys,” Geoff announced, sending Gavin a fond smile before heading to his desk to check what they had lined up for the day.   
  
Gavin turned, about to head to his desk before being stopped by a hands-on-hips Michael.   
  
“Did you forget about me, my boi?” Michael scolded, and Gavin licked his lips.   
  
“Of course not, you donut,” he replied. He could see Ray in the corner of his eyes, watching carefully in case Michael tried anything that could hurt him further.   
  
“Good, just hope after a couple of days you don’t forget completely about us,” Michael said, striding over to him.   
  
“You bloody spaff of course I couldn’t-” Gavin’s reply was cut off by Michael, who had cupped his face and had smashed their lips together quickly.   
  
Gavin couldn’t quite keep down the heat rising to his cheeks, and he had a wide smile on his face as he sat on his chair. Michael spun on his to face Gavin, sending him a wide smile of his own.   
  
The day continued normally, although Ray would send him warning glances whenever Gavin began to border on the boundaries of being ‘too-asshole-ish’ and very possibly risked being tackled. Otherwise, though, the day continued without an issue.   
  
For most of the games, he realised, he had teamed up the least with Ray. He figured it was a subconscious influence - trying to get as much time as he could with the others before the ‘big unveil’ the following night. He was too worried, the thoughts of the worst outcomes flooding his mind through the day.   
  
Ray, though, had been doing the same. They shared reassuring glances with each other when they called out their team names with the other, assuring each other that they understood. After all, they knew, at the end of the day they would still have each other without a doubt, however there was a lingering, unspoken uncertainty with the others.   
  
By the end of the day, Gavin was pretty much relying on Ray to stop himself from falling over. He had used up too much energy through the day, had pushed the boundaries too much, and his chest had flared up in a ridiculous amount of pain, leaving him short of breath and falling under multiple dizzy spells.   
  
Ray had managed to deflect most of the questions that asked about how Gavin was feeling, and “was he okay, he looked awfully pale” and eventually, after quick goodbyes, they finished work and left.   
  
When they got back to their apartment, Ray immediately worked on making him feel better. Gavin, for most of it, was bordering on the edge of unconsciousness and eventually, when he came back to it a few hours later, he felt a lot better.

Almost as soon as he woke up, though, Ray came in to check on him and immediately ordered for him to “fall the fuck back asleep.” Gavin tried to, he really did, but he just couldn’t collapse into the arms of sleep until Ray slipped in beside him and tangled their limbs together.   
  
When Gavin woke up the next time, this time by the alarm, his heart was pounding in his chest. The memory of the dream lingered in his mind - a dream that cruelly showed some of the worst outcomes of the ‘big unveil’.   
  
Ray looked at him, almost sharing his same harrowed look, and Gavin licked his dry lips.   
  
“Morning, X-Ray,” he grumbled, rubbing at his eyes to try and wake himself up a bit more.   
  
“Morning, Vav, how are you feeling?” Ray asked, already moving to get out of bed. He went to take a step, then stopped suddenly and scrunched his eyes, blinking rapidly.   
  
Then, all of a sudden, he smiled and turned to Gavin.   
  
“Fuck yeah,” he cheered, “X-Ray is back in town.”   
  
He blinked a few more times and it took Gavin a moment to realise he was flicking between visions, now under control of them.  He had let Gavin know that the day before his vision had returned, although it was acting like it had the day before he lost it - changing randomly without his control and flickering in and out.   
  
Gavin grinned at him before moving to get off the bed himself, gritting his teeth as his chest complained against any movement. Ray walked off for a moment, then came back in and pressed a glass of water and two tablets in his hands.   
  
He downed the tablets and set about getting ready, Ray changing the bandages again - hopefully, the last change, as he was now healing a bit quicker - and helped him get his shirt on. After that, though, he needed minimal help.   
  
The day passed quickly, almost too quickly and Gavin was tempted to just slow a few moments to collect his thoughts. However, he was weak on power and he knew that what he needed for the night would have to be preserved - it was his last resort only now just coming back to him, and hopefully his main power would come back quicker within the week.   
  
Ray pulled him aside at lunchtime, and they exchanged a few quick words. Ryan glanced over at them a lot, and Gavin sent him a thumbs up to mask how much he was beginning to panic.   
  
“You’re not drinking,” Ray told him harshly, and Gavin pouted.   
  
“I am drinking,” Gavin argued, “I am absolutely drinking or I’m not saying bloody anything.”   
  
“You are not. Drinking. Gavin.” Ray ordered and Gavin folded his arms.   
  
“I. Am.”   
  
“You fucking can’t, dude, it’ll fuck so many things up,” Ray pointed out and Gavin shrugged.   
  
“The night will be fucked up anyway,” he argued and Ray sighed in annoyance.   
  
“Gavin, you’re not fucking drinking,” he said, one last time, and Gavin just threw his hands up - trying with all his might to keep the pain from showing on his face.   
  
Michael walked over at that point.   
  
“Woah, what the fuck is going on over here? You two having a spat?” Michael teased, and Ray glanced at him.   
  
“Nope,” Gavin said curtly, and Michael sent him a strange look.   
  
“You so are,” Michael accused, and Gavin’s temper flared up for a moment, but he managed to control it when he spoke up.   
  
“Nothing to worry about, my boi,” Gavin brushed off, and Michael just sent them both pointed looks - both of which ignored.   
  
“Seriously, the fuck is up with you two?” Michael asked, folding his arms and Gavin shifted uncomfortably on his feet.   
  
“Michael, drop it,” Ray warned, and Michael huffed.   
  
Fortunately, though, Michael did drop it and they returned to work after that, although the tension between them began to grow.   
  
Ryan and Jack had brought their two separate cars so they could all just go in the one trip to their house. Ray, Jack and Michael went in one car, and Ryan, Gavin and Geoff went in the other.   
  
Geoff threw Gavin a beer almost immediately, as soon as he sat on the couch, and Gavin knew it was a bad idea to have one, but one look at Ray and he felt a spark of spite.   
  
He was going to drink, damnit, he couldn’t go through the plan without being at least slightly bevved up.   
  
Ray glared at him when Gavin uncapped the lip, and then just seemed to give up when Gavin took the first sip.   
  
“Your grave,” Ray mouthed, and Gavin just shrugged.   
  
Ray sprawled along the couch with Michael, playing a competitive game of some sorts on the XBox. It was clear that Ray was distracted, though, as the kill score was much lower than his usual. Ryan sat with Gavin on a lounge chair, keeping him propped up and making sure no one fucked with Gavin’s injury.   
  
Geoff and Jack worked effectively together to get dinner going. Gavin didn’t even realise that Geoff seemed to be constantly handing him bottles of beer until Ryan pointed it out to him.   
  
“You sure that’s safe?” Ryan asked him quietly, slinging a casual arm around Gavin.   
  
“Nope,” he replied honestly, “it’s probably not.”   
  
“That’s your third,” Ryan pointed out, but Gavin didn’t get a chance to reply as Geoff called them all to eat.   
  
They ate surrounded by casual conversation, Gavin not able to remember most of it. His stomach was beginning to churn - in nerves of if he was just sick, he wasn’t able to tell. It was probably both.   
  
The more sips he had of his beer, though, the more his strength to keep out the darker thoughts faded. There was definitely some of the toxin laced in his system - he doubted it’d be out for a while, as it already had left a heavy imprint in him.   
  
The nightmares flashed through his mind, and when the others spoke in conversation he began to recluse. All he could hear were the chants of _liars, liars, fucking liars and untrustworthy and why would we ever fucking love you, you’re a liar, liar, liar._   
  
They moved to the couch eventually, however the close space to the others made him nervous. He knew it was just his mind, fooling him and throwing the worst it could at him, but he couldn’t help flinching as Geoff reached out to him.   
  
Geoff retracted his hand, a stricken look on his face and Gavin was immediately flooded with guilt. The others hadn’t noticed - or at least, he didn’t think they had, and it didn’t become an issue.   
  
Until he flinched again when Michael reached out.   
  
“The fuck is up with you?” Michael demanded, and Gavin felt his eyes widen.   
  
“You’ve been acting fucking weird, dude,” Michael continued, “the fuck is up?”   
  
Gavin’s mouth immediately went dry and he shriveled up against Ray as he felt the other stares directed at him.   
  
Ray took a deep breath, and immediately Gavin knew what was about to happen and no _no, no don’t please don’t_ \-   
  
“We, ah, have something to tell you,” Ray announced, gaining the attention of the others who looked at them both with worry and curiousity.   
  
“Gav, some help?” Ray asked quietly, and Gavin nodded and they both stood up. His heart was pounding and the wound was flaring up - although, he wasn’t sure, because it didn’t hurt as it usually did but maybe it was just the memory of it, of having to bring it up.   
  
“So we, ah,” Ray began, “this is quite the story, actually, and it’s going to sound fucking stupid and like it’s from our fucking imagination but just. Listen and leave all your questions to the end. We’re going to do a pre-school Show and Tell, alright? Great.”   
  
The others looked at them with confusion.   
  
“So Gav and I, well, we have been meaning to tell you this for a while but it’s just never been a great time, and hey, why not now after we had one of the worst scares we’ve ever had?” Ray chuckled a little, dryly, obviously not finding the situation very funny.   
  
“God, where to start?” Ray asked himself, and glanced at Gavin.   
  
“The beginning, I suppose,” he said, answering himself, and began to recount it much the same way he had with Ryan.   
  
When Ray began with his vision, that’s when it began to go downhill.   
  
“Wait, what the fuck Ray?” Michael almost shouted, “Is this fucking mythical story time?”   
  
Ray frowned. “No, just shut up and listen. I can prove it, but there’s way too many flaws - like there could be hidden cameras or some shit, so just wait a moment.”   
  
Gavin spoke up, then. “I can do slow-mo stuff. Literally a slow-mo guy. It’s sort of hard to explain, so I’ll just … show it, won’t I?”   
  
Gavin glanced at Ryan.   
  
“Ry, would you mind running at me? Just… run right at me. Don’t hold back, go right for me,” he asked, and Ryan gave him a strange look before reluctantly nodding and standing.   
  
The others looked at Gavin with the biggest “ _what-the-actual-fuck_ ” looks possible, but Gavin couldn’t focus on them. He had to focus on his powers, had to focus on using them to show his boys that they weren’t insane, they weren’t telling a fairytale.   
  
Ryan took a deep breath and ran at him, a couple of meters away, and Gavin threw out his hands and felt the bubbling beginning in his chest, spreading out to his hands and he felt the energy release from his hands - hitting Ryan directly in a stream.   
  
Immediately, Ryan was moving significantly slower. Gavin risked a glance at the others - spared from the beam and saw the shock crossing their faces, the disbelief. Gavin felt the stream slipping, running out, and he sidestepped just in time and managed to grab Ryan’s arm, stopping him from running full on into the wall.   
  
It was silent. Nothing except the heavy breathing of Gavin, trying to control his quick beating heart.   
  
“What the fuck,” Geoff eventually said, his voice slightly higher than normal and laced with obvious disbelief.   
  
“You got to be shitting me,” Jack mumbled, and Michael was just… staring.   
  
“This is a joke, right?” Michael asked, his voice quiet. Gavin licked his lips, nervously, and Michael stood up.   
  
“One way to find out,” Michael grumbled to himself, and then flung himself at Gavin.   
  
He wasn’t sure where he got the energy or the power, but something in his mind told him to fling his hands up, and he did, out of pure panic, and a weak stream of energy flew out.   
  
It was enough, though, enough to slow Michael enough for Gavin to step aside again, although this time he simply didn’t have the energy to grab him to stop him. Ray, fortunately, did and managed to haul Michael aside.   
  
The grip he had on Michael was a bit tighter than necessary, but Gavin couldn’t really care to say anything as a wave of dizziness hit him and he stumbled, his feet tripping backwards and Ryan was the only reason he still remained upright.   
  
He blacked out for what felt like a moment, however when he came to he was sitting upright on the couch, and five worried faces stared back at him.   
  
When they realised he had come to, Geoff’s face changed from worry.   
  
“You absolutely fucking dickhead,” Geoff chastised, pointing an accusing finger at him. “You fucking asshole.”   
  
Gavin couldn’t speak around the cotton that was in his mouth, but someone else did. Ryan just rolled his eyes and gently grabbed Geoff’s wrists, pulling it away from Gavin’s face.   
  
“Ray and I explained what you two do in your spare time,” Ryan said, and Ray just shrugged from beside him.   
  
“Fucking Batman and Robin shit,” Michael muttered.   
  
“Anyway, they want some answers,” Ryan explained and Gavin nodded as best as he could.   
  
“So, you got kidnapped?” Jack asked, and Gavin attempted a shrug.   
  
“Seems so,” he replied, and frowned when he was met with some very unamused glares.   
  
“Gav, Ray, how the fuck could you not tell us about all of this?” Jack asked, obviously quite angry and Gavin had to remind himself that Jack absolutely never appreciated things being kept from him.   
  
“Well, we were in the business before you guys came along, and we were nervous that you might … well, leave us if you found out -” Gavin began, and Ray cut him off to continue.   
  
“I mean, we’re freaks, like this is some serious sort of Freakshow act, like fucking American Horror Story,” Ray added, and Michael just shook his head.   
  
“You got to be shitting me,” he ground out. “I mean, yes, it’s fucking weird as shit and I’m not convinced I’m not dreaming but for us to fucking leave you… No, wouldn’t happen.”   
  
“I mean, we already somehow love you guys and your nose, Gav, like if we can accept that thing then I’m sure we can learn to deal with these extra, uh, abilities,” Geoff joked, and Gavin let out a laugh.   
  
“Did you tell them about the scars?” Gavin asked Ray quietly, although Geoff overheard.   
  
“What scars?” He asked sharply, and Gavin cringed.   
  
“No, I didn’t, _thanks_ Vav,” Ray replied drily.   
  
“Oh, you mean the reason you guys have a clothes fetish?” Michael joked, and they both shrugged.   
  
“Well, you never know, we could have six floppy dicks attached to our chests,” Ray teased, although his tone was almost serious.   
  
“Or small Italians,” Ryan added, and they shared a secret smile at that.   
  
Michael looked at their chests suspiciously.   
  
“We don’t,” Ray assured when Michael seemed to be looking a bit too closely at their chests, almost like he was looking for suspicious lumps.   
  
Gavin sent Ray a nervous look before beginning to lift up his shirt. He waited for the shocked looks, but was met by confused glances.   
  
“Uh, Gav, the bandage,” Ray told him and Gavin just went “ _oh._ ”   
  
Ray helped him take it off, and when the last piece had been removed the shocked looks washed over them. Jack paled considerably and Michael looked almost… furious, while Geoff looked ridiculously worried.   
  
Gavin himself hadn’t seen the wound, not wanting to even glance at it or pretend it was there. However, after releasing that five others he trusted with his life had seen it, he suddenly realised that it was indeed very, very real.   
  
He felt himself pale.   
  
“Gav, wh- who the fuck did this?” Jack asked, the first to speak, the first to break out of the first wave of shock.   
  
Gavin glanced at Ray.   
  
“Three nutjobs, who are now dealt with,” Ray answered for him.   
  
Michael took a look at Ray.   
  
“Do you have a huge X on your chest or -” Michael asked, his voice strangely calm, although Gavin just caught the underlying rage lying in wait.   
  
Ray shook his head. “Nah,” he said, lifting his own shirt to prove it. Ray himself had a very decent amount of scars, but looking upon them calmed Gavin down a bit.   
  
The scars were familiar, nothing new to Gavin - and it somehow worked to calm him a little, because all he could think was that ‘ _at least it wasn’t Ray._ ’   
  
Geoff let out a low, impressed whistle.   
  
“Wow, so our boyfriends are fucking vigilantes. Great. I don’t know what the fuck to think,” Geoff admitted.   
  
“How are you not in the news?” Jack asked them, and Gavin decided to answer.   
  
“I have a friend in England, Dan, who manages to help a lot with that stuff,” he explained, and Jack just nodded.   
  
It was silent again, and Gavin slowly lowered his shirt, as did Ray.   
  
“Well, anyone else wanting to share something?” Geoff asked, his tone suggesting that he was not at all amused and would not, in fact, appreciate anymore secrets.

Ryan raised his hand meekly.

Ray and Gavin shot him warning looks, but Ryan did his best to ignore them.

“Are _you_ growing floppy dicks on your chest?” Geoff asked, and Ryan shrugged.

“Possibly, I didn't take my medicine today for it,” Ryan replied drily, and Geoff shot him a double look – for a moment fooled.

“But I, ah. Might have known about this,” Ryan said quietly, immediately seeming to decide that saying so was not exactly a great idea.  
  
“You fucking _knew_?” Michael yelled, storming up to Ryan.

Ray stepped in, standing between Michael and Ryan.

“Only for a couple of days,” Ryan reassured, “I convinced them to tell you.”

“That's fucking great and all,” Michael said, his voice significantly lower than what it was before, “but maybe you should've fucking told us.”

“Wasn't my place to tell – they promised to tell you all on Bev night.”

Michael fumed for a moment before sagging.

Ray also seemed to relax, but Gavin could tell he was still keeping up a high guard.

“What the fuck,” Michael muttered, “what the actual fucking _fuck_.”

Michael sent another glare in Ray's direction, but backed off towards the couch and sat down.

“I need more drinks to deal with this shit,” he mumbled to himself, and Gavin couldn't help but agree.

After that, Michael seemed to stay out of the conversation.

“So, superheroes? Who would've thought,” Geoff mused, “not me, that's for sure.”

Gavin and Ray tried their best not to shrug.

“Seriously, you two fucking dickheads acting as nighttime crusaders. That's just messed up,” Geoff continued. “How many times have you guys messed up?”

“Including the kidnapping a few days ago? Um, probably like six billion fucking times,” Ray admitted, and Gavin just nodded. Sounded about right.

The others, slowly began to back off. It eased into an uncomfortable situation, where Gavin and Ray stood awkwardly while the others had sprawled themselves against the furniture. Michael was on the couch, Jack was on the dining room chair, Ryan was on the lounge chair and Geoff had gone outside and hadn't returned for a while.

“So, Vav,” Ray began, and Gavin turned to him with an exasperated look on his face.

“You going to share your adventure?” Ray asked, and Gavin could feel the others turn their heads to him in curiousity.

Gavin shook his head. “Later.”

And that ended that conversation.

Another began in Gavin's head.

_They haven't told you to leave yet, that's promising._

_How long until they ask, though?_

His mind began to play a game of tennis – a positive thought that formed being countered by a negative one.

The positive ones began to gain more points, though, when after about the third time of catching Michael's eye and smiling, the other man returned a weak smile.

Jack was sending them worried glances, checking at their chests – like he could see through their shirts himself. Geoff eventually walked back in, spreading out beside Michael on the sofa.

“You two assholes just going to stand there or join in on some co-op?” Geoff asked, and Gavin and Ray shared a look of disbelief before huge grins took their place.

They launched themselves onto the couch, grabbing the controllers that Michael handed them and at one point, Gavin had ended up back in Ryan's lap and Ray was somehow sprawled across the other three when Jack had joined in on the couch.

When team X-Ray and Vav won, somehow by some miraculous fluke because Gavin had managed to mess up in the right way, the others were immediately using excuses.

“You two absolutely cheated,” Michael accused, “you used your fucking powers somehow, didn't you?”

And they hadn't, not at all, but there was no way to convince the others after Michael had fueled the fire.

“The powers of cheating, that's what you have,” Geoff joined in.

“How can we play with you guys when you guys are just going to cheat?” Jack asked, although Gavin caught traces of his joking tone and he smiled.

“I bet you two fucking cheat all the time, don't you?” Michael asked, and the two of them shared confused glances.

“That's how Ray always wins, he has to cheat. And Gavin always wins the noodle-sparring contests in Walmart,” Michael recalled, and then seemed to remember more instances.

“Actually, I would like to say you were just all bloody spaffs because there was a _wet floor_ sign and you all just completely ignored it,” Gavin defended himself, but Michael was having none of it.

“Also how you managed to beat Geoff in the running race -”

“Nope, that's Geoff just showing his age,” Ray piped up, and Geoff threw the controller at his head.

“How _dare_ you throw a controller at me, for I am X-Ray, the coolest and most sexiest man alive who has taken down multiple vi-”

He was cut off by three more controllers being thrown at him.

Gavin laughed from beside him, and then copped the television remote to the back of his head, courtesy of Michael.

“And that competition we had while we were banging -”

“I absolutely did not – actually, no, I definitely cheated on that one,” Gavin admitted, and then Michael threw a couch pillow at the back of his head.

“See, you're fucking daily cheaters,” Michael declared.

“Only in sex,” Gavin replied, and Michael scoffed.

“Exactly. Daily cheaters.”

The night, after that, continued easily. Gavin had, at some point, nodded off in Ryan's lap and had awoken when he was being placed down on a mattress.

Five others joined him, squashing and entangling themselves with him. He managed to identify the two beside him – Ryan and Michael, both who had protectively wrapped themselves around him while being mindful of his chest.

He smiled to himself when he realised that Ray was in the same predicament with Jack and Geoff, and he let himself relax into their predicament.

There was something churning in his stomach – but it wasn't fear, or sickness, it was the feeling of being _loved._

And sure, there was a time before the six of them – with just Ray and Gavin against the world, but now it was a time with the six of them.

Gavin and Ray, together,  were the stars and the moon – forever and always by the side of one another.

And together, with the four others, they formed a galaxy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay it's done!  
> However I lost plenty of my italics (going through and fixing them slowly)  
> Dedicated to the most wonderful person ever, whalehuntingboyfriends, who is overall just amazing and constantly has me laughing or smiling so thank you so, so much <3


End file.
